In Bettina Pousttchi’s Starker Staat series (2003), the veracity of the images is questioned in black and white photographs depicting distanced and abstracted figures. The title which translates to “strong state” is at times used interchangeably with “authoritarian state.” In Starker Staat 1 (2003), a police presence stands within a street alongside parked cars, congregated in conversation. From limited narrative clues, the viewer cannot discern the reason for the street being blocked, but is left with an impression of surveillance in a contemporary, urban environment. Pousttchi is an artist of German-Iranian descent, interested in the political and social organization of time and space. Removed from its specific historic context, the scene on Starker Staat could be taking place anywhere.