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From 16 July 2020, the Museum of Photography is showing the exhibition “FOTOGRAFIE. Wolfgang Schulz and the photo scene around 1980”. The focus is on the magazine “FOTOGRAFIE. Zeitschrift internationaler Fotokunst” and its editor Wolfgang Schulz. With around 240 works by Wolfgang Schulz and other photographers*, the exhibition is illuminating an important period of drastic change in the history of West German photography. Addendum: As has now become known, Wolfgang Schulz died on 14 July 2020, two days before the opening of the exhibition, after a long illness.
In the years around 1980 photography gained a new status in the art world. New approaches to photography were explored; museums began to show interest in the medium; the first photo galleries opened; photography had its first major appearance at documenta in 1977; and photo magazines were launched. The starting point for the current exhibition on this exciting, transformative period is the photo magazine “FOTOGRAFIE. Zeitschrift internationaler Fotokunst“ (subsequently “Fotografie: Kultur jetzt“), produced in forty issues between 1977 and 1985 under the editorship of Wolfgang Schulz.
Hans-Christian Adam, Unterwasser-Gruppenportrait, aus der Serie „Schwimmer“, Vigaun bei
Hallein, Salzburg, 1985, Silbergelatinepapier, Leihgabe des Künstlers, © Hans Christian Adam
The periodical quickly developed into a much-noticed, often controversial, national scene magazine: an extremely lively forum for a burgeoning new movement that was still largely unaffected by art commerce. Wolfgang Schulz sought to elude established norms, pursuing very diverse styles and subject matter both in his role as editor and as a photographer who created an exceptional body of work. The journal now seems to have been almost completely forgotten. Yet the achievements of the editor and the contributing authors and photographers deserve a closer look. The mix of images and text they created is an important source for exploring a photo scene around 1980 that worked hard to establish photography as an art form in its own right.
Hans-Martin Küsters, Guadamar, Spanien, 1977, Silbergelatinepapier,
LVR Landesmuseum Bonn, © Maximilian Küsters
The project is a first attempt to rediscover an important aspect of the history of photography in West Germany. The exhibition is divided into four sections. It pays tribute to Wolfgang Schulz’s photographic work around 1980, shows images by various photographers whose work influenced the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s, presents all forty issues of the magazine Fotographie in a serial layout forming an impressive visual panorama, and offers an oral history forum using video interviews of contemporary eyewitnesses.
Verena von Gagern, Barbara, 1978, Silbergelatinepapier,
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, © Verena von Gagern
Wolfgang Schulz was not only the editor of this magazine, but also a remarkable photographer. He tried to evade fixed norms and pursued different styles and subjects. In his pictures of Ireland, for example, he followed the narrative tradition of pictorial features, but he also created a strictly documentary typology of barns and their manifestations. With a series on undergrowth, he turned to the unspectacular. Schulz portrayed as well his circle of friends and the photo scene that went in and out of his home. The exhibition shows for the first time ever the photographic works of Wolfgang Schulz from around 1980.
Wolfgang Schulz was not only the editor of this magazine, but also a remarkable photographer. He tried to evade fixed norms and pursued different styles and subjects. In his pictures of Ireland, for example, he followed the narrative tradition of pictorial features, but he also created a strictly documentary typology of barns and their manifestations. With a series on undergrowth, he turned to the unspectacular. Schulz portrayed as well his circle of friends and the photo scene that went in and out of his home. The exhibition shows for the first time ever the photographic works of Wolfgang Schulz from around 1980.
Miron Zownir, Berlin, 1980, Silbergelatinepapier, Leihgabe des Künstlers, © Miron Zownir
A broad selection of works by the photographers represented in the magazine from the collection of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg and from numerous other lenders will also be presented. Their works are representative for the various concepts and artistic approaches and bring the photographic scene of the time in excerpts to life. The photographs are by Hans Christian Adam, Gosbert Adler, Dieter Appelt, Heiner Blum, Joachim Brohm, Dörte Eißfeldt, Verena von Gagern, André Gelpke, Dagmar Hartig, Andreas Horlitz, Hans-Martin Küsters, Reinhard Matz, Angela Neuke, Heinrich Riebesehl, Wilhelm Schürmann, Holger Stumpf, Ulrich Tillmann/Wolfgang Vollmer, Petra Wittmar and Miron Zownir.
André Gelpke, Pulverfaß III, 1978, aus der Serie „Sex Theater”, Silbergelatinepapier, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, © André Gelpke
The exhibition is curated by Reinhard Matz, Steffen Siegel and Bernd Stiegler in cooperation with Esther Ruelfs from the Museum für Kunst and Gewerbe in Hamburg. It has been enlarged for the Berlin venue in collaboration with Ludger Derenthal from the Kunstbibliothek.
A catalogue for the exhibition has already been published by Spector Books, Leipzig: 240 pages, ISBN: 9783959052825, retail price: 28 €.
Wolfgang Schulz, Selbstportrait, Riesweiler, 1978, Silbergelatine, Privatsammlung, © Wolfgang Schulz
PLEASE NOTE: The Museum für Fotografie reopens after Corona’s closure on Thursday, 25 June 2020, with special opening hours from Thursday to Sunday from 11 am to 8 pm. The presentation of the special exhibition “FOTOGRAFIE. Wolfgang Schulz and the Photo Scene around 1980“ (4 April to 19 July 2020) has been postponed to 16 July to 11 October 2020. The Helmut Newton Foundation extends the duration of its special exhibition “Body Performance” until 20 September 2020.
The number of visitors admitted to the museum at the same time is limited, and the wearing of a mouth and nose covering is just as obligatory as compliance with the minimum distance of 1.5 meters. It is strongly recommended that visitors buy their tickets online, in advance, to avoid lines forming at the ticket counters and entrances: www.smb.museum/tickets
Exhibition period: Thursday, 16th July – Sunday, 11th October 2020
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FOTOGRAFIE. Wolfgang Schulz and the photo scene around 1980 – Museum für Fotografie | Contemporary Photography – Photo Exhibition in Berlin – ART at Berlin
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