Solo Exhibition
Between Her Own Viewpoint and Authentic Reality
The Photographic Oeuvre of Hildegard Ochse
Exhibition on the occasion of Hildegard Ochse’s 80th Birthday
Opening: Thursday, November 5, 2015, 18-21h (Facebook Event)
Exhibition: November 6, 2015 – January 24 February 14, 2016
Curated by Tina Sauerländer
In collaboration with Benjamin Ochse
Opening hours
Tue-Fr 10-17h, Wed 10-19h, Sun 11-17h, Admission free
(Closed between December 24, 2015 – January 3, 2016)
Description
Hildegard Ochse was not interested in beauty; she liked the authentic. She loved and hated Berlin, saying it was beautiful and ugly at the same time, but above all Berlin was vivid and vibrant to her.
We have many problems, but don’t hide them behind a beautiful facade as elsewhere,”
she wrote in 1985 about the city in which she lived in from 1973 on until her death in 1997. Her photographic series are always symbolic of larger context. The images of people on the streets of Berlin represent isolation, harshness and despair as a partial aspect of urban culture.
Hildegard Ochse was 43 years old when she opted for a professional career as a photographer. From 1975 on she attended photography courses, later at the famous “Werkstatt für Photographie” in Berlin-Kreuzberg, founded by Michael Schmidt. She took part in workshops of renowned American photographers, including Lewis Baltz, Ralph Gibson and Larry Fink. In this time the artistic value of photography changed, particularly after 1977 photographic works were exhibited extensively at the Kassel art exhibition documenta 6.
From 1981 on Hildegard Ochse photographed the series Großstadtkirchen (Churches of the City) for the Herder publishing house or the staff of KPM (Royal Porcelain Factory) in Berlin. The exhibition Between Our Own Viepoint and Authentic Reality now focuses on the development of her visual language as a photographer. The exhibition is dedicated to her work that has arisen independently of commercial contracts, including the series Stadtvegetation (urban vegetation), Gastland Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Host country Federal Republic of Germany), Aspetti di Berlino (aspects of Berlin) or Derental. The photographic works of Hildegard Ochse reflect social structures and are symbols of social or cultural conditions—photographed in black and white, without distortion and without unusual image sections. Hildegard Ochse was concerned with the the depiction of authentic reality and everyday life. She was aware that photographs are not just a reflection of world, but create their own content, aesthetics and new ways of seeing as well asinterpretations of reality. With her attitude towards photography, her selection of themes and her visual language she works in the tradition of Autorenfotografie. The renowned German art historian and curator Klaus Honnef coined the term in the 1970s. It refers to photographers that reflect their own view of reality according to strictly documentary visual language in order to create an authentic reality in the photo. About the works of Hildegard Ochse Klaus Honnef wrote to the curator of the exhibition, Tina Sauerlaender,
My thoughts and definitions of Autorenfotografie apply to the work of photographer Hildegard Ochse more than to the works of so called Kunstfotografie (artistic photography), which has embraced my concept completely.”
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About the biographical part of the exhibition:
The exhibition presents an extensive workup of the personal life of Hildegard Ochse (1935-1997), who came from a strict Catholic, middle-class and intellectual household. Her later friends included the art dealer Kurt Hans Cassirer and his wife and patron of the arts Eva Solmitz. As a 16-year-old in 1952, Hildegard Ochse traveled to the United States with a scholarship for gifted children. She graduated from high school in Rochester, New York in 1953. There, the world’s first museum of photography—today called the George Eastman Museum—opened in 1949. In June 1953, Hildegard Ochse returned on the Italian passenger liner Andrea Doria to Europe. During this period, remarkable early photography came into existence.
Another focus of the exhibition lies on Hildegard Ochses photographic environment during her time at Michael Schmidt’s Werkstatt für Photographie. Furthermore, the show supplements an extensive documentary about the life and work of Hildegard Ochse, as well as important documents rediscovered recently.
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Accompanying program:
Wednesday, December 2, 2015, 6pm: Curator’s tour with Tina Sauerländer
Sunday, December 6, 2015, 2pm: Tour with biographical focus with Benjamin Ochse
Sunday, January 17, 2016, 3pm: Tour with Benjamin Ochse and Tina Sauerländer
For English guided tour please contact curator Tina Sauerländer at tina@1733450815peert1733450815ospac1733450815e.eu1733450815
Event Details
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