Since moving to Germany I've had to renegotiate my relationship with paperwork, or "Papierkram" as it's called here. Some people fear spiders. Some people are claustrophobic. Me? I break out in hives when faced with paperwork (an exaggeration, but only just). But Papierkram is a way of life here, and in order to stay here, and stay in the good graces of the various Amts (govermental departments) that you occasionally have to deal with, I've had to get better at paperwork.

My number one tip? Take your time. Rushing through paperwork is a surefire way to check the wrong box and then regret it until you have a chance to resubmit.

How does this collage fit into all this? I'm not sure, really. The photograph feels quasi-official, but isn't a Reisepass (passport) picture. It sits properöly within hand-drawn lines of the worksheet, and is labeled, number "11." The alignment - or near-alignment of the torn poem and the payment receipt suggest more layers of documentation that together start to tell the story of who the man is, and why he's here. His full dossier is much larger than this one collage, but this may serve as the cover page.

Mixed Media Collage: Found paper, found photograph.

Note: Collage is sold matted but not framed.

The matted collage measures A4 280mm x 350mm, which is a standard frame size. Pictured frame is from Modular.de.