Skip to content

☞ Sign up for PiB's weekly eNewsletter and receive a 10% Coupon for PiBs Shop!

☞ Erhalte einen 10% Gutschein für PiBs Shop bei Anmeldung zu PiBs wöchentlichem eNewsletter!

Solo & Group Exhibition

»Heinz Hajek-Halke + Collection De Gambs«

The photography institution CHAUSSEE 36 in Berlin-Mitte is opening its doors to visitors as part of this year’s Berlin Photo Week with photographs by Heinz Hajek-Halke and a presentation of the Collection De Gambs.

CHAUSSEE 36 is a place for open and controversial examination of the many facets of photography. To support this aim, the association “Fotografie und Kultur CHAUSSEE 36 e. V.” was founded in 2020. (Managed by Mathilde Leroy and Mona Mathé). It is intended to actively promote national and international artists and to create a space for action between art, artists, the public, and institutions through workshops, discussions, and events.

Heinz Hajek-Halke: Experiment

Vintage Photographs: 1950 – 1970
Curated by Simone Klein

CHAUSSEE 36 e.V. is pleased to manage the Estate of the famous Berlin photographer Heinz Hajek-Halke since early this year.

Heinz Hajek-Halke (1898 – 1983) is one of the most important German photography artists of the 20th century. Born in Berlin, raised in South America, his activities in Berlin during the 1920s and 1930s were numerous. He worked as a press illustrator, photo reporter, picture editor, and advertising photographer. During this period, the subject matter and the experimental nature of his photographic work reflected the realities of the modern city. At the time of the Nazi regime, Hajek-Halke withdrew to Lake Constance and produced zoological and documentary images. After 1945, his initial interest in experimental photography continued.

The completely free handling of photographic material – the negative as an object served as a basis for successive alienations, material additions, and overexposures of all kinds – which leads here into the abstract, the informal, the photograms of Christian Schad or Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, or the photographic images related to subjective photography, which Hajek-Halke called “Light Graphics.” Hajek-Halke used to print from his negatives himself. The work on the negatives and the execution of the prints were both conducted and controlled by him – to the point of perfection.

This first presentation gives an insight into his multi-layered experimental work. On display is a selection of vintage photographs. The Heinz Hajek-Halke Estate aims to preserve the artist’s work in the best condition possible whilst making it accessible to the public for it to find its rightful place within the discourse of contemporary art and photography.

Heinz Hajek-Halke, Stadt im Grünen, 1960 © Heinz Hajek-Halke Estate / Courtesy CHAUSSEE 36
Heinz Hajek-Halke, Südliche Erinnerung, 1957 © Heinz Hajek-Halke Estate / Courtesy CHAUSSEE 36
Heinz Hajek-Halke, Untitled, 1964 © Heinz Hajek-Halke Estate / Courtesy CHAUSSEE 36
Heinz Hajek-Halke, Komposition EGE, 1950 © Heinz Hajek-Halke Estate / Courtesy CHAUSSEE 36
Heinz Hajek-Halke, Untitled, 1963 © Heinz Hajek-Halke Estate / Courtesy CHAUSSEE 36

Heinz Hajek-Halke in dialogue with Stefanie Seufert & Thomas Albdorf

Like Heinz Hajek-Halke, the Berlin artist Stefanie Seufert and the Viennese artist Thomas Albdorf experiment with the medium of photography and its reinvention. Here, intentional moments meet the accidental. Conscious actions of the artists mix with the momentum of the work – be it in the photographic production process or by computer software.

Stefanie Seufert, Blind (magenta - green 1), 2011 © Stefanie Seufert, Courtesy the artist
Thomas Albdorf, Stills from “Flowers Were Waiting On The Balcony Of The Room, So Beautiful!”, 2018 © Thomas Albdorf, Courtesy the artist

Collection De Gambs

As part of the Berlin Photo Week, the Heinz Hajek-Halke Estate is showing the first presentation with selected vintage photographs under the title “Experiment”, which gives an insight into his multi-layered work. On this occasion, Collection De Gambs, a private art collection supervised by CHAUSSEE 36 will be presented as well.

Corresponding to Hajek-Halke, a selection of works by well-known photographers are on display that explore the concept of experiment in different ways. In addition to the famous photographs of Harold Edgerton, the pioneer of high-speed photography, works by newcomer Bastiaan Woudt are on display, who draws the classic motif of the portrait into abstraction with strong black & white contrasts and clear forms. Sarah Moon’s photographs, on the other hand, are characterized by a dream-like visual language. Through blurring and alienation, motif and background become one, detaching any sense of space and time. The famous work After Van Dongen by Norman Parkinson – a tribute to the Dutch artist – also plays with foreground and background and dissolves the line between painting and photography. The works of Guy Bourdin and Gilbert Garcin lead the viewer into a surreal scenery with narrative images.

This presentation shows a small insight into the comprehensive collection, which focuses not only on experimental approaches but also on historical photographs – especially with reference to Berlin – and Nude / Eroticism.

Update Sep 2021:
The exhibitions have been extended until Oct 30, 2021! New opening hours: Thu – Sat 1 – 6 pm, registration required via 
CHAUSSEE 36 | Heinz Hajek-Halke: Experiment. Vintage Photographs: 1950–1970
Chaussee 36 Photography

Aug 25 — Sep 25 extended until Oct 30, 2021

Chausseestraße 36, 10115 Berlin
[District: Mitte | Borough: Mitte]

Opening hours during Aug & Sep: Wed – Sun 1 – 6 pm
Opening hours from Sep 25: Wed – Sun 1 – 6 pm, appointment required, see above

Admission free

Current photography exhibitions/events recommended in…
Berlin | Mitte

Collection Regard | Fotografien aus der Sammlung von Marc Barbey »Au revoir Berlin«

KW Institute for Contemporary Art | Coco Fusco »Tomorrow, I Will Become an Island«

KW Institute for Contemporary Art | »SKIN IN THE GAME«

Robert Morat Galerie | Linn Schröder »Ich denke auch Familienbilder«

nüüd.berlin gallery | Daniela Finke »A Present from the Past«

Lothar Wolleh Raum | Lothar Wolleh »René Magritte – The Last Portraits«

PiB Guide Nº51 NOV/DEC 2023 © PiB (Photography in Berlin). COVER PHOTO: From the series “Él pone la música, nosotros bailamos” © Manuela Lorente. Group show »Two Bears and A Strawberry Tree« at AFF Galerie in Berlin-Friedrichshain, read more on page 4 & 5! +++ 6 photos on right double page spread (p. 5): 1) top left: © FASE11 × Alejandro Marote, How many steps are a city? 2) top right: © Laura C. Vela, Como la casa mía 3) middle left: © Manuela Lorente, Él pone la música, nosotros bailamos 4) middle right: © Sergio Belinchón, Provisional Atlas of Berlin 5) bottom left: © André Groth, Am Ende der Sonnenallee 6) bottom right: © Émilie Delugeau, Zuhause +++ PiB Guide Editor / V.i.S.d.P. / Art Direction: Julia Schiller @julia.schiller_ · ele studio berlin · www.ele-studio.de +++ Printed on 100% recycling paper in Berlin-Köpenick by altmann-druck, many thanks!

Current print issue · Aktuelle Printausgabe
PiB Guide Nº51
NOV/DEC 2023

#pibguide

Discover great photography exhibitions in Berlin & beyond in PiB’s bi-monthly print issue, the PiB Guide. The PiB Guide Nº51 NOV/DEC 2023 has been published as a booklet, A6 format · 36 pages · English & German · worldwide shipping.

Order your copy

PiB's E-Newsletter

Sign up for PiB's free, weekly eNewsletter and stay up-to-date in Berlin's vibrant photography scene! Assembled with love once a week in English & German for an international audience of photography enthusiasts, collectors, curators and journalists.

Free sign-up!
#pibnewsletter – the weekly, digital E-Newsletter by PiB Photography in Berlin
»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.

You & PiB

Reach a dedicated audience of art & photography enthusiasts in Berlin & beyond – by presenting your exhibition/event or institution/product/service with PiB!

Read more
#Tags for this article:
Warenkorb
An den Anfang scrollen
Suche