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☞ PiB Guide Nº60 MAY/JUNE 2025

Solo Exhibition

»Fred Koch. Nature Photography of the 1920s and ‘30s«

Fred Koch

How marvelous even the minutest crystal appears when properly illuminated and enlarged […] Koch is a pioneer who opens up an entirely new world for us, not one scientifically true-to-life, because things don’t look this wonderous in reality; but artistically wonderous.”
– Adolf Herz (1931).

Fred Koch (1904–47) counts as one of the most important photographers of the Weimar Republic. His black-and-white, New Objectivity-style photographs mainly feature detailed images of plants and crystals, but also frost formations, corals, conchylia, insects, as well as X-ray images.

Koch had fallen into obscurity given the anonymity of his published works, his turn toward press photography, and his untimely death. Now, thanks to extensive research and attributions, his work can be discovered in an extensive solo exhibition organized by the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung showcasing around 100 works from the 1920s to 1930s. His passion for natural forms unites him with Alfred Ehrhardt (1901–84), for whom Koch’s crystal photographs were a source of inspiration. Friends of the photo aesthetics of Karl Blossfeldt (1865–1932), Aenne Biermann (1898–1933), Albert Renger-Patzsch (1897–1966), or Alfred Ehrhardt will be richly rewarded.

The Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung has focused on Fred Koch’s work since 2004. That his photographs of crystals and minerals far surpass in quality the photos of the great New Objectivity master Albert Renger-Patzsch was clearly documented in the earlier exhibition Lebendiger Kristall (2004). Koch was introduced to photography in 1922–23 by Renger-Patzsch, then manager of the Folkwang-Verlag image archive of author and publisher Ernst Fuhrmann (1886–1956), for whom he was producing enlarged images of plants. These photographs of plants mark the beginnings of New Objectivity photography. Koch succeeded Renger in 1928 and expanded the plant photo archive, which was featured in Fuhrmann’s publication Die Pflanze als Lebewesen. Eine Biographie in 200 Aufnahmen.

Fred Koch brings out the floral beauty, grace, and splendor of plants, thereby maximizing the stylistic means of New Objectivity photography. The plants are viewed frontally, photographed from below, dramatized with pinpointed lighting to a surreal, alienated degree and abstracted with extreme cropping. Koch made use of light reflections and powerful shadows to underscore the three-dimensionality of plants in a dramatic, almost theatrical manner. The other grand master of modern photography, Karl Blossfeldt, also shot his plants in a rather sober, matter-of-fact, and austere manner; Koch, by contrast, presents the plants like portraits. In his intensive examination of Ernst Fuhrmann’s “biosophy,” Fred Koch develops an unparalleled, distinct style all his own. Fuhrmann’s organic-ecological thinking around the interconnections between human and plant life-processes is based on the animalistic function of the plant as a demonic and sexualized living being. In his texts and image captions, he compares parts of plants to flesh, bones, hands, musculature, and sexual and sensory organs. Taking up Fuhrmann’s ideas, Koch’s depictions deliberately evoke sexual associations and connotations, and thus emphasize the “vitality of plants” more pointedly than any other photographer of his time. In 1931, author Will Vesper extolled Fred Koch’s “masterly photographs of plants depicting the fantastic structure of these living beings as if under a magnifying glass […]. It’s like watching plants move, form, rejoice, fight, conquer, suffer, and die, like living beings, which they are.”

Koch was a tireless tinkerer, he designed special cameras for extreme depths of field in macro photography, optimized his equipment and analyzed lighting modalities down to the minutest detail. This differentiates him markedly from others in terms of his photographs of crystals and minerals. In a variety of texts, he reveals technical refinements and tricks to his readers: “With crystals, in addition to their formal and material characteristics, special attention must be paid to how they behave with light.” Koch’s knowledge of the complex spatial structures, strict laws, transparency, and light refraction of crystals, allowed him to bring out the aesthetic qualities of the substance and architectural structure of his subject matter in particularly brilliant fashion. In their richness of detail, clarity, and precision, many of his photographs of crystals surpass those of his contemporaries.

Now Fred Koch’s name can and should find its way into future publications on New Objectivity photography. The Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung dares to take the step towards a real rediscovery.

Curator: Stefanie Odenthal M.A., foundation manager and curator, Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung

Lender: Berlinische Galerie // bpk-Bildagentur, Berlin // LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn, photographic collection // STÄDEL MUSEUM, Frankfurt // Stiftung F.C. Gundlach, Hamburg // Die Photographische Sammlung, SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, permanent loan from Rainer Stamm // Ann and Jürgen Wilde Collection, Zülpich // Dr. Hans Schön // Claudia and Rolf Poss Collection // Rainer Stamm Collection // Private collection

A catalog is being published on the occasion of the exhibition Fred Koch. Nature Photography of the 1920s and ‘30s (German/English, texts by Rainer Stamm, Stefanie Odenthal, Snoeck Cologne, 2022).

Fred Koch (1904-1947), Sarothamnus scoparius. Leguminosae/Besenginster, Blütenausschnitt, um 1929/30, Silbergelatineabzug auf Barytpapier, 23,0 × 16,8 cm, Courtesy Sammlung Rainer Stamm
Fred Koch (1904-1947), Distel-Samen. Compositae - Cirsium lanceolatum, undatiert, Silbergelatineabzug auf Barytpapier, 22,1 × 16,8 cm, Courtesy Stiftung F.C. Gundlach, Hamburg
Fred Koch (1904-1947), Crassulaceae Sempervivum tabulaeformis, undatiert, 1920er-Jahre, Silbergelatineabzug auf Barytpapier, ca. 24 × 18 cm, Courtesy LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn, Fotografische Sammlung
Fred Koch (1904-1947), Ohne Titel, undatiert, Silbergelatineabzug auf Barytpapier, 16,6 × 22,7 cm, Courtesy Sammlung Claudia und Rolf Poss
Fred Koch (1904-1947), Gips-Kristalle (Eisleben, vergrößert), vor Februar 1931, Silbergelatineabzug auf Barytpapier, 12,3 × 14,3 cm, bpk-Bildagentur / Fred Koch
Fred Koch (1904-1947), Ampelopsis tricuspidata. Zaunrebe, bis 1930, Silbergelatineabzug auf Barytpapier, 9,8 × 7,4 cm, bpk-Bildagentur / Fred Koch
Fred Koch (1904-1947), Pisum sativum, Erbse, undatiert, Abzug Freundeskreis Ernst Fuhrmann, Silbergelatineabzug, 18,5 × 13,0 cm, Courtesy Sammlung Dr. Hans Schön

Framework program

All events will be held in German. All events are by reservation, in accordance with official requirements. Please register in advance via e-mail.

Friday, January 14, 2022, 7 – 9 pm
Opening Reception

Thu, Jan 20, 6 pm + Sun, Feb 20, 2 pm + Thu, April 7, 2022, 6 pm
Curator’s Guided Tour
Guided tours (held in German) through the exhibition with Stefanie Odenthal M.A.; Registration: info@1745703966aesti1745703966ftung1745703966.de1745703966

Sunday, March 27, 2022, 2 pm
Slide Lecture
Slide lecture by Stefan Berg (M.A. Design): »Von Bildsprachen und fotografischen Handschriften. Zur Wechselwirkung von Persönlichkeit, fotografischem Ausdruck und der Darstellung von Identität.«Registration: info@1745703966aesti1745703966ftung1745703966.de1745703966

Curator’s Guided Tour with Stefanie Odenthal M.A.:

Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung / Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation Berlin

Jan 15 — Apr 24, 2022
Opening Reception: Friday, Jan 14, 7 – 9 pm
+ Framework program: please see above

Auguststraße 75, 10117 Berlin
[District: Mitte | Borough: Mitte]

Opening hours: Tue – Sun 11 am – 6 pm

Admission free

Current photography exhibitions/events recommended in…
Berlin | Mitte

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Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung | »Do you have something to fight for?«

CHAUSSEE 36 Photography | »Metamorphosis« Heinz Hajek-Halke’s Photomontages & New Image-Makers

f³ – freiraum für fotografie | »Radical Beauty«

Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung | Kilian Breier »Abstrakt Konkret – Materie Licht und Form«

Robert Morat Galerie | Christian Patterson »Gong Co.«

PiB Guide Nº59 MAR/APR 2025 © PiB ⸺ Photography in Berlin. COVER PHOTO · TITELBILD PiB Guide Nº59: Simon Lehner, Balance study with boy, 2018. From the series »How far is a lightyear?«, 2005–2019. Pigment print, 90 × 72 cm. Courtesy KOW Berlin © Simon Lehner. Part of EMOP Berlin's main festival exhibition »what stands between us« at Akademie der Künste in Berlin-Hansaviertel, read more on page 4 & 5! +++ 6 photos on right double page spread (p. 5), top left to bottom right: 1) Johanna Maria Fritz: o.T., 2022, aus der Serie "Ein afghanischer Teppich", 2022. 2) Bérangère Fromont, aus der Serie "Except the Clouds", 2018. 3) Inga Ivanova: Family Kassi 1965, aus der Serie "TANOE: Echos der Wurzeln", 1965 Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, Color Printing Process RA-4 4 Kamila K Stanley: Avellar, Archivalischer Tintenstrahldruck. 5) Rosalind Lowry: Endangered Species List 481, 2023, Pigment-Print (Installationsansicht; Leinen, Farbe), 78 x 58 cm. 6) Lisa Wassmann: Sebiana Venice, Florida, 2024, aus der Serie "Somewhere Else", 2007-2024, Courtesy Lisa Wassmann.

PiB Guide Nº59 MAR/APR 2025 © PiB ⸺ Photography in Berlin. COVER · TITELBILD: Simon Lehner, Balance study with boy, 2018. From the series »How far is a lightyear?«, 2005–2019. Pigment print, 90 × 72 cm. Courtesy KOW Berlin © Simon Lehner. Part of EMOP Berlin’s main festival exhibition »what stands between us« at Akademie der Künste am Hanseatenweg in Berlin-Hansaviertel, read more on page 4 & 5! +++ 6 photos on right double page spread (p. 5), top left to bottom right: 1) © Johanna-Maria Fritz: o.T., 2022, aus der Serie “Ein afghanischer Teppich”, 2022. 2) © Bérangère Fromont, aus der Serie “Except the Clouds”, 2018. 3) © Inga Ivanova: Family Kassi 1965, aus der Serie “TANOE: Echos der Wurzeln”, 1965 Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Color Printing Process RA-4. 4) © Kamila K Stanley: Avellar, Archivalischer Tintenstrahldruck. 5) © Rosalind Lowry: Endangered Species List 481, 2023, Pigment-Print (Installationsansicht; Leinen, Farbe), 78 x 58 cm. 6) © Lisa Wassmann: Sebiana Venice, Florida, 2024, aus der Serie “Somewhere Else”, 2007-2024, Courtesy Lisa Wassmann. +++ PiB Guide Editors / V.i.S.d.P. / Art Direction: Julia Schiller & Oliver Schneider

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MAR/APR 2025

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PiB Guide Nº59
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Entdecke großartige Fotoausstellungen in Berlin & darüberhinaus in PiBs zweimonatlicher Printausgabe, dem PiB Guide! Die aktuelle Ausgabe ist erschienen als Booklet im DIN A6 Format · 52 Seiten · Deutsch & Englisch · weltweiter Versand.

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»PiB — Photography in Berlin« | PiB’s website, PiB’s weekly E-Newsletter, and the bi-monthly published PiB Guide: page 12 & 13 from the PiB Guide Nº15 Nov/Dec 2017; feat. the exhibition Evelyn Hofer »Cities, Interiors, Still Lifes. Photographs 1962 – 1997« at Galerie Springer Berlin; image credits: Queensboro Bridge, New York, 1964 / Coney Island, New York, 1965 / Girl with Bicycle, Dublin, 1966, all 3 photos © Evelyn Hofer, Estate Evelyn Hofer.
»PiB — Photography in Berlin« | PiB’s website, PiB’s weekly E-Newsletter, and the bi-monthly published PiB Guide: page 12 & 13 from the PiB Guide Nº15 Nov/Dec 2017; feat. the exhibition Evelyn Hofer »Cities, Interiors, Still Lifes. Photographs 1962 – 1997« at Galerie Springer Berlin; image credits: Queensboro Bridge, New York, 1964 / Coney Island, New York, 1965 / Girl with Bicycle, Dublin, 1966, all 3 photos © Evelyn Hofer, Estate Evelyn Hofer.

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