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APERTURE
The Düsseldorf School of Photography
Edited and text by Stefan Gronert.
The German photographic movement commonly known as the Düsseldorf School of Photography has become synonymous with artistic excellence and innovation. It began in the mid-1970s at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, under the instruction of the photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, known for their comparative grids of mundane industrial buildings captured with an objective and clinical eye. This school has not only birthed some of today's most important and successful photographers, but has also had a fundamental and lasting influence on the history of the medium. The Düsseldorf School of Photography presents over 160 images in a spectacular overview of the breadth of the Düsseldorf School from the early 1970s to today. This impeccable survey is filled with superb reproductions of the best-known photographs by three generations of key Düsseldorf artists: Bernd and Hilla Becher, Laurenz Berges, Elger Esser, Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Simone Nieweg, Thomas Ruff, Jörg Sasse, Thomas Struth and Petra Wunderlich. With a scholarly text, extensive artist bios and a plate section dedicated to each of these artists, The Düsseldorf School of Photography offers the first comprehensive assessment of this important photographic movement—one that dominates the salesrooms and museums of our times.
FROM THE BOOK
"Sometimes a book appears in print, and people wonder why it has never been published before. This may well be one such volume, because the much talked about photographic boom of the 1990s could and should have been the subject of an historical account long ago. But the fact remains that, until now, there has not been a detailed study of the phenomenon known as the Dusseldorf School of Photography…Although it is clear that the field of Dusseldorf photography, both in Germany and abroad, can by no means be limited to this particular school, in practice the term has come into common use, even on an international level…With this book we shall not be attempting to provide any broad survey of all the important artistic approaches, but instead we shall concentrate on a qualitative selection from a particular photographic field...Our hope is that by limiting ourselves in this manner, we shall gain a sharper and deeper insight into the work of our chosen photographers: namely, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Laurenz Berges, Elger Esser, Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Axel Hutte, Simone Nieweg, Thomas Ruff, Jörg Sasse, Thomas Struth and Petra Wunderlich. What will emerge from our study of these individual photographers will be a sketch of what may be regarded as the two most exciting decades of recent art history, the consequences of which are still to be felt today."
FORMAT: Hbk, 10.5 x 12.25 in. / 320 pgs / 118 color / 44 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $95.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $115 ISBN: 9781597111362 PUBLISHER: Aperture AVAILABLE: 2/28/2010 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: No longer our product AVAILABILITY: Not Available
Published by Aperture. Edited and text by Stefan Gronert.
The German photographic movement commonly known as the Düsseldorf School of Photography has become synonymous with artistic excellence and innovation. It began in the mid-1970s at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, under the instruction of the photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, known for their comparative grids of mundane industrial buildings captured with an objective and clinical eye. This school has not only birthed some of today's most important and successful photographers, but has also had a fundamental and lasting influence on the history of the medium. The Düsseldorf School of Photography presents over 160 images in a spectacular overview of the breadth of the Düsseldorf School from the early 1970s to today. This impeccable survey is filled with superb reproductions of the best-known photographs by three generations of key Düsseldorf artists: Bernd and Hilla Becher, Laurenz Berges, Elger Esser, Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Simone Nieweg, Thomas Ruff, Jörg Sasse, Thomas Struth and Petra Wunderlich. With a scholarly text, extensive artist bios and a plate section dedicated to each of these artists, The Düsseldorf School of Photography offers the first comprehensive assessment of this important photographic movement—one that dominates the salesrooms and museums of our times.
