The Bechers at the MoMA

It doesn't need many words to "review" an exhibition by the Bechers. It's always a treat, and this latest show at the MoMA is no different. And of course, with the recent and unfortunate death of Bernd Becher, one could probably expect a number of retrospective shows.

The MoMA shows many work groups that most of us are already familiar with. But it is always a pleasure to look at these prints up-close and in context. I also enjoy how the Bechers draw wider (art-)historical connection, like their take on Walker Evans' photograph of Bethlehem, PA. The Bechers certainly owe a lot of their success to photographers like August Sander as well as to the emergence of conceptual art in the early 1970s, but I find it amazing how much they have -- in return -- influenced photographers ever since, whether they were their students, like the Struffkys, or all the stripes and shapes of contemporary typologists. I just find it sad, though, how typologies have become such an uncritical, widespread and easily marketable trend in photography. Is it just a too-easy formula for today's art students, from Leipzig to New York, often neglecting the passion and dedication the Bechers had for their subject matter and project? Or is it rather the art market that too-easily "recognizes" typologies as (salable/desirable) "Art"? Probably both.

Well, in any case, if you are in New York, please plan a trip to MoMA's photography gallery and indulge in truly fine works of Bernd and Hilla Becher.

Photo Festival in Dumbo

This weekend, I went to the highly anticipated New York Photo Festival in Dumbo. Unfortunately, my expectations were not met. And I don't think it was the rain. The ticket prices and general cash-in attitudes from the organizers might have left a slightly bitter taste however. A local gallerist even called it the "typical powerHouse sleaziness", referring to one of the main hosts of the festival. I'd like to give the Dumbo-based publishing company the benefit of the doubt and hope that it wasn't only a self-serving event with photographers and photo-enthusiasts being the paying content-providers and mere advertising targets. Plus, some of the shown work in the various exhibitions was not bad.

The best show was definitely Tim Barber's Various Photographs. I liked how he leveled the playing field, allowing each of the invited photographers, whether well-known or emerging, the same image size, displaying all 300 photographs democratically in a wall-spanning grid. Suddenly, the star photographer found himself dwarfed by the work of the newcomer next to him. Unfortunately, Barber didn't look to hard outside his "Vice" circles for talents, making the exhibition a rather homogeneous one despite the vast number of images.


The best work in The Ubiquitous Image, curated by Lesley A. Martin, was for me Claudia Angelmaier's reflections on reproduction and seriality. I had encountered her work before at the open studio exhibition of the HGB Leipzig in 2005. I am intrigued by her concept and execution, and found myself lost in the details of the reproductions of reproductions of old drawings and prints. However, I think Angelmaier enlarged the images beyond their capacity, which is obviously a nod toward the market and in step with the more recent German photographic traditions.

Martin Parr’s exhibit, New Typologies, seems almost redundant. How many times can we rehash this serial tradition in photography? Of course, the simplicity of this comparative strategy with its often aesthetically pleasing photographs is a safe way to "bring order to the chaos around us," as the festival website states. I find it rather boring. And I am rather annoyed that even photographers like Parr can't resist to curate a show based on typologies. To write at least something positive about this particular exhibition, I would say Jan Kempenaers' series of old concrete structures and monument was quite intriguing.

All in all, I would say the first attempt of New York Photo Festival was almost successful, but could not, as I mentioned before, fulfill my expectations. There was just too much hype prior to the festival and somewhat mediocre execution of the actual event. It definitely wasn't Houston. But with more restraint on attitudes and prices, and more emphasis on quality, the next installment of this festival could become an actual success.