Schlereth's photographic practice is characterized by a conscious focus on the inconspicuous, the everyday and the supposedly banal - some aspects of our lives that often go unnoticed in the fast-paced everyday life of the media. His works are understood as visual interventions whose primary aim is to encourage the viewer to consciously “look” and thereby initiate a process of sharpening perception and reflecting on what they see.
At a time when individuals are exposed to visual and textual information at high frequency and in great quantity, much content loses its depth, verifiability and sustainability. This inundation also leads to a limited ability to select, a reduced attention span and a lack of critical reflection. In order to be noticed at all in this context, visual messages often have to stand out through special visual stimuli - which paradoxically leads to the inconspicuous and everyday disappearing almost completely from the focus of public perception. However, this is precisely where Schlereth's central artistic interest lies: in his photographic work, he specifically focuses on precisely those unspectacular, often overlooked elements of the everyday environment. This aesthetic decision is by no means coincidental, but rather the expression of a more profound socio-critical approach. Schlereth sees his work as visual research into social phenomena, ecological issues and the subtle, often contradictory dynamics of human coexistence.
One thematic focus of his work is the relationship between people and their immediate surroundings - be it urban or rural space, the built environment or nature as a living space. Schlereth examines how human behavior manifests and changes in, with and towards these spaces, what traces people leave behind and to what extent they are aware of their responsibility towards the environment.
The clarity of his visual language, the often sober aesthetics and the emphatically distanced perspective are an expression of an attitude that not only documents, but also aims to encourage critical reflection.