Stefanie Schneider - Girls (Till Death do us Part)

Original photograph by German photographer Stefanie Schneider (*1968), artist Inventory #9361.16

Girls (Till Death do us Part)
Edition 9/10

PROCESS: Archival C-Print on RC photographic paper.
Based on the Polaroid.
AGE / period: 2007
DIMENSIONS: 20 x 24 cm
CONDITION: in excellent condition

Till Death Do Us Part – A Cinematic Vision by Stefanie Schneider

Offered here is a rare and evocative piece from Till Death Do Us Part, a cinematic chapter within Stefanie Schneider’s acclaimed 29 Palms, CA project—an experimental film composed of Polaroid stills and Super 8 sequences.
Set against the vast and indifferent landscape of the California desert, Till Death Do Us Part tells the story of Cristal and Margarita—two young women bound by fate, seeking refuge in each other from a world that has failed them. Cristal, already slipping into invisibility, finds herself reflected in Margarita, a runaway escaping a fractured past. In their roadside existence, they create an illusory paradise, believing their connection can transcend time. But when two lost souls fuse into one, do they find themselves, or do they vanish further into the void?
Schneider’s visual language is both poetic and haunting, her signature use of expired Polaroid film distorting time, memory, and reality. Colors bleed into each other like echoes of forgotten dreams, and the desert’s ephemeral light suspends the characters between intimacy and isolation. This work delves deep into themes of identity, androgyny, longing, and the fragile border between freedom and entrapment.
Accompanied by the ethereal voice of Austen Tate as Margarita and the haunting melodies of Daisy McCrackin as Cristal, Till Death Do Us Part is an artistic triumph—an exploration of love, loss, and the spaces in between.

Schneider, who received her MFA from the Folkwang School in Essen, Germany, has exhibited her work at institutions including the Museum für Fotografie (Braunschweig), the Museum für Kommunikation (Berlin), and Les Rencontres d'Arles, among others.

Her impact on contemporary photography is profound. As Dr. Florian Kaps, founder of The Impossible Project, states:

"Stefanie Schneider’s work achieves the possible from the impossible, creating the finest art from the most ephemeral of materials. Seeing her photography made me realize that Polaroid film could not be allowed to disappear. If not for Stefanie Schneider, this American symbol of photography might have been lost forever."