[veraikon]

The Birth of Photography

Place: rem (Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen), Mannheim (Germany), C5*
Time: 9th September 2012 - 6th January 2013

"The historian of photography Helmut Gernsheim (1913-1995) owned the then largest photography collection in the world. For the first time in half a Century, both its parts are being reunited: the historical part held by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin and the contemporary collection in the Forum Internationale Photographie at the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen in Mannheim, Germany.
Among the major pieces in the collection is world's first photographic Image of exterior view, taken by Joseph Nicephore Niepce in 1826. With this treasure, Helmut Gernsheim not only restored to photography its earliest preserved work, but was also able to set the »official birth date« of photography, formerly linked to the invention of the daguerreotype in 1839, back to the year 1826.
With roughly 250 outstanding photographic works, the exhibition affords unprecedented insights into the history of the Gernsheim-Collection äs well äs a fascinating overview of the history of photography. In addition to numerous milestones in photojournalism (e.g., Erich Salomon, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Robert Capa, David Seymour, Werner Bischof, Felix H. Man, Robert Lebeck, Thomas Hoepker), outstanding portraits are presented (e.g., David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll, Hugo Erfurth, Brassai, Gisele Freund, Lotte Jacobi, Fritz Kempe), as well as the most important protagonists of so-called Straight Photography / New Vision (e.g., Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Ansei Adams), along with historical and contemporary examples of artistic, experimental and staged photography (e.g., László Moholy-Nagy, Christian Schad, Otto Steinert, Robert Häusser, Duane Michals). All these masterpieces have impressed on our collective picture memory. "

For more information:
english: Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen - Welcome
francais: Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen - Bienvenue

Mannheim ist a city in SW Germany about 20 km away from Heidelberg and 90km from Frankfurt.
Next larger airport is Frankfurt, next low cost airports are Frankfurt/Hahn or Baden Airport Baden-Baden.
Mannheim Hbf (main station) is one of the major hubs in German high speed rail system (ICE/IC/TGV) . Traveling time by rail from Frankfurt Airport Fernbf station is about 30 min, from Cologne/Köln (PK 2012) 1h 30 mins. TGV
/ICE from Paris Est: 3h, Zurich HB: 3h.


* "C5" ist the street

[veraikon]

An interview* with Helmut Gernsheims widow Irène: „Sammeln ist wie ein Virus“ - Veranstaltungen - Freizeit - morgenweb * in german- please use an automatic translation system