EYES WIDE OPEN: 100 YEARS OF LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY OCTOBER 24, 2014 – JANUARY 11, 2015 DEICHTORHALLEN HAMBURG / HOUSE OF PHOTOGRAPHY

The exhibition EYES WIDE OPEN: 100 YEARS OF LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY curated by Hans-Michael Koetzle, illuminates various aspects of recent small-format photography, from journalistic strategies to documentary approaches and free artistic positions, spanning fourteen chapters. Among the artists whose work will be shown are Alexander Rodchenko, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Christer Strömholm, , Bruce Davidson, William Klein, , René Burri, Thomas Hoepker and Bruce Gilden. Following its premiere in the House of Photography at the Deichtorhallen Hamburg, the exhibition will travel to Berlin, Frankfurt and Vienna, among other locations.

According to an entry in the workshop records, by March 1914 at the latest, Oskar Barnack, who worked as an industrial designer at Ernst Leitz in Wetzlar, completed the first functional model of a small-format camera for 35mm cinema film. The introduction of the Leica (a combination of »Leitz« and »Camera«) which was delayed until 1925 due to the war, was not merely the invention of a new camera; the small, reliable and always-ready Leica, equipped with a high-performance lens specially engineered by Max Berek, marked a paradigm shift in photography. Not only did it offer amateur photographers, newcomers and emancipated women greater access to photography; the Leica, which could be easily carried in a coat pocket, also became a ubiquitous part of everyday life. The comparatively affordable small-format camera stimulated photographic experimentation and opened up new perspectives. In general, visual strategies for representing the world became more innovative, bold and dynamic. Without question, the Leica developed by Oskar Barnack and introduced by Ernst Leitz II in 1924 was something like photography’s answer to the phenomenological needs of a new, high-speed era.

The exhibition EYES WIDE OPEN: 100 YEARS OF LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY will attempt for the first time to offer a comprehensive overview of the change in photography brought about by the invention and introduction of the Leica. Rather than isolating the history of the camera or considering it for its own sake, it will examine the visual revolution sparked by the technological innovation of the Leica. The exhibition will take an art- and cultural-historical perspective in pursuit of the question of how the photographic gaze changed as a result of the Leica and the small-format picture, and what effects the miniaturization of photography had on the work of amateurs, artists and photojournalists. Not least, it will also seek to determine what new subjects the camera addressed with its wide range of interchangeable lenses, and how these subjects were seen in a new light: a new way of perceiving the world through the Leica viewfinder.

Some 400 photographs, supplemented by documentary material, including journals, magazines, books, advertisements, brochures, camera prototypes and films, will recount the history of small-format photography from its beginnings to the present day. The exhibition, which is curated by Hans-Michael Koetzle, follows the course of technological change and photographic history. Across fourteen chapters, the show will illuminate various aspects of recent small-format photography, from journalistic strategies to documentary approaches and free artistic positions. Among the featured photographers are those who

are internationally known for their work with Leica cameras (Alexander Rodtschenko, Henri Cartier- Bresson, Robert Capa, Christer Strömholm, Robert Frank, Bruce Davidson, William Klein, William Eggleston, René Burri, Thomas Hoepker and Bruce Gilden) as well as amateurs and artists who have not yet been widely associated with small-format photography, including Ilja Ehrenburg, Alfons Walde, Ben Shahn and George Grosz. Important loans, some of which have never been shown before, come from the factory archives of Leica Camera AG in Wetzlar, international collections and museums, as well as private lenders (Sammlung F. C. Gundlach, Sammlung Skrein, Sammlung WestLicht).

EYES WIDE OPEN: 100 YEARS OF LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY OCTOBER 24, 2014 – JANUARY 11, 2015 DEICHTORHALLEN HAMBURG / HOUSE OF PHOTOGRAPHY

PRESS CONFERENCE On Thursday 23, 2014 at 11 Uhr a.m. at the House of Photography.

OPENING RECEPTION On Thursday 23, 2014 at 11 Uhr a.m. at the House of Photography.

CATALOGUE Accompanying the exhibition, a catalogue will be published at Kehrer Verlag. Edited by Hans-Michael Koetzle.

EDITION A photographic edition by Christer Strömholm will be available while the exhibition is on show.

PRESS INQUIRIES Press images can be downloaded under www.deichtorhallen.de (Registration required). For further questions please contact Angelika Leu-Barthel, Tel. 040-32 10 32 50, [email protected].

WWW. DEICHTORHALLEN.DE

Partners of Deichtorhallen

EYES WIDE OPEN: 100 YEARS OF LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY List of Artists

Mehemed Fehmy Agha Michael von Graffenried Gabriele Nothhelfer Nobuyoshi Araki René Groebli Helmut Nothhelfer Bernd Arnold George Grosz Paulo Nozolino Jane Evelyn Atwood Ara Güler Kosuke Okahara Ellen Auerbach F. C. Gundlach Leopoldo Pómes Ragnar Axelsson Arvid Gutschow Rudolf Pestalozzi Julia Baier Robert Häusser Richard Peter Micha Bar-Am Hiroshi Hamaya Timm Rautert Bruno Barbey Elisabeth Hase René-Jacques Oskar Barnack Heinrich Heidersberger Wilfried Bauer Keld Helmer-Petersen Evelyn Richter Anton F. Baumann Walter Henisch George Rodger Horst H. Baumann François Hers Alexander Rodtschenko Carlo Bavagnoli Fred Herzog Paolo Roversi Thomas Hoepker Lothar Rübelt Ferenc Berko Sebastião (Ribeiro) Salgado Ilse Bing Andrea Hoyer Dr. Erich Salomon Werner Bischof Jing Huang Toni Schneiders Tomio Seike Edouard Boubat Franz Hubmann Jeanloup Sieff John Bulmer Pierre Jamet Jeffrey Silverthorne René Burri Eva Kemlein Hans W.(olfgang) Silvester Robert Capa William Klein Christian Skrein Henri Cartier-Bresson Barbara Klemm Klavdij Sluban Gérard Castello-Lopes Viktor Kolár W. (illiam) Eugene Smith Jewgeni Chaldej Alberto Korda Humphrey Spender Hermann Claasen Liesel Springmann Mark Cohen Stefan Kruckenhauser Anton Stankowski Joan Colom i Altemir Kineo Kuwabara Louis Stettner Peter Cornelius Sergio Larrain Dennis Stock Bruce Davidson Robert Lebeck Christer Strömholm Raymond Depardon Saul Leiter Keiichi Tahara Dr. Walthari Dietz Ernst Leitz II Yutaka Takanashi Claude Dityvon Guy Le Querrec Ricard Terré Erich Lessing Alfred Tritschler David Douglas Duncan Paula Luttringer Gaël Turine Alfred Eisenstaedt Ulrich Mack Umbo. Mitch Epstein Constantine Manos Nick Út Elliott Erwitt Ramón Masats Michel Vanden Eeckhoudt Horst Faas Leonore Mau Will McBride Walter Vogel Richard Fleischhut Rudi Meisel Alfons Walde François Fontaine Sabine Weiss Robert Frank Jeff Mermelstein Kai Wiedenhöfer Leonard Freed Gisèle Freund Bertrand Meunier Alain Willaume Lee (Norman) Friedlander Joel Meyerowitz Paul (Heinrich August) Wolff Alberto García-Alix Xavier Miserachs Tom Wood Ralph Gibson László Moholy-Nagy Claire Yaffa Bruce Gilden Inge Morath Herbie Yamaguchi