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CULTURE |  |
Hanover
contacts
Hanover
is a partner city of Poznań. The July exhibition "Haus der Fotografie"
Hanover e.V. marks the beginning of the photographic co-operation and
exchange with the Poznań Gallery of Photography "pf" affiliated
with the "Castle" Cultural Centre.
"The House of Photography" in Hanover was established in 1994
as an independent association of professional and non-professional photographers.
By the latter we mean those artists who disinterestingly devote their
time and money to photography. The association organises exhibitions and
workshops providing artistic inspiration not only for their members (at
present 45 people) but also drawing people’s attention to the role of
photography in the whole culture-related field. For the members of the
association photography is above all a very significant contemporary means
of expression and a universal message of a cosmopolitan character.
The
Poznań exhibition encompasses works of a small number of artists associated
with "The House of Photography", i.e. only 8 members. Nevertheless,
it allows us to get an insight into the fields of interest of the artists
from Hanover. Remaining in the realm of photography in its original form,
they draw more or less consciously on aesthetic patterns represented,
on the one hand, by American photography (Weston, Adams) and. on the other
hand, on the so-called "subjective photography", a characteristic
movement which appeared in Germany in the 50-s. This may account for a
strong interest in landscape and quasi-documentary photography. They do
not resort to processing, digital technologies, collages or combining
photography with e.g. painting. For them the process of creating a photographic
medium takes place always along the negative - positive lines, i.e. seemingly
in the simplest possible way. Resorting to the traditional sphere of photography
gives, however, great, nearly unlimited possibilities of interpreting
reality. The proposal of "The House of Photography" is not only
a simple report, but above all it is an individual and subjective outlook
as well as an attempt to attract viewers' attention to these elements
which were of importance for the photographer. In spite of joint actions
undertaken by the members of the association, they are not determined
in any way to pursue one single direction. All the artists take photographs
in an entirely different way and, the only goal that they seem to have
in common is high-quality artistry. The example of "The House of
Photography" revives and reinforces a positive meaning of the notion
photo-amateur. The word "amateur" signifies a fan who deals
with something non-professionally and who gets totally involved in what
he is doing, drawing only non-financial benefits from the activity he
pursues. In their technique these photographs do not stand out from these
of a professional artist as non-professionals tend to improve their 
technique
constantly participating among others in the workshops organised by "The
House of Photography". An incentive for further development stems
from joint activities of the association.
The first chairman of "The House of Photography", Thilo Nass,
wrote in the introduction to an exhibition catalogue that the Poznań presentation
of eight photographers from Hanover constitutes "a contribution to
further mutual co-operation between our cities: Poznań and Hanover".
In May 2001 Hanover will witness an exhibition prepared by Poznań photographers
associated with the "pf" Gallery of Photography.
Ireneusz Zjeżdżałka
Exhibition director: Heinz
Ebert
Authors: Wolfgang Bartels, Klaus Friedel, Dietmar Lehne, Giesbert Lewers,
Peter Rendschmidt, Eckard Schrader, Thomas Steinhardt, Heiko Stock
Haus der Fotografie Hannover e.V. - Dom Fotografii Hannover
Centrum Kultury "Zamek", Hol Kolumnowy, 3 - 31.07.2000