Zwei Fördertürme 1967

The typological series of black-and-white gas tanks, grain silos, cooling- and water towers have become classics of photo history and are represented today in most important collections. In the late 1950s Bernd and Hilla Becher began photographing industrial utility buildings in Siegerland with a 13 x 18 plate camera, thereby setting an end to the rather humanistic tradition that had governed photography until then. The defining concept they began with was decisive, ensuring the stark objectivity intended for the photographs. Anything  superficial or narrative would be excluded. Positioned in the center before a never-changing background of grey, cloudless sky, the Bechers captured various representatives of the same type of architecture in groups.

The needle-sharp series of industrial architecture revolutionized the medium of photography and was crucial in winning its revaluation as an art form. The photographs had a high information density and allowed comparability. The so-called typologies had such a strong presence that they appeared to be presenting themselves. All at once, the overlooked aesthetic of the technological, the beauty of industry became obvious. For this achievement the Bechers and their photographs were awarded the Golden Lion for Sculpture at the 1990 Venice Biennale. The Bechers succeeded in establishing photography as an independent, contemporary, aesthetic form of expression, giving it equal standing to the classic genres such as painting and sculpture for the first time. Numerous honors and monographs to their work, which is also recognized in the framework of conceptual art and minimalism, attest to the great influence the Bechers have had on art. An outstanding generation of new photographers with a growing influence on photography  have emerged from the Bechers’ now legendary classes at the Düsseldorf Art Academy.

Petra Prahl