75 years Magnum Photos
From the 4th of September to the 20th of November, the exhibition "MY WAY" could be visited at the Galerie Buchkunst Berlin. On display were photographs by Thomas Hoepker. The occasion of the exhibition is the 75th anniversary of the well-known photographer agency Magnum Photos. Thomas Hoepker is himself a member of the agency. He received his full membership in 1989 and was even president of the agency between 2003 and 2007.
About the exhibition
The exhibition shows photographs from Hoepker's home of many years, the USA. Old black-and-white photographs from his first tour of the U.S. in 1963 were exhibited and contrasted with more recent large-format color photographs from the 1980s of his hometown of New York.
The opening of the exhibition on September 3, 2022 was attended by the photographer himself.
Images: Ana Druga
About the artist
Born in Munich in 1936, Hoepker became interested in photography at an early age. He studied art history and archaeology and even then won photography prizes in the Photokina "Jugend photographiert" competition. After his studies, Hoepker worked for magazines, yearbooks, and also on photo projects. He became known through his publications in the magazines twen and Kristall, in which he shared impressions of his first road trip through the USA in 1963. The photographer's potential was already apparent at that time: the photo series brought him not only fame in the photography industry but also a job with the weekly magazine Stern. In 1976 he moved with his then wife to New York, where he still lives today.
Hoepker's photography is strongly humanistic and has had a great influence on the history and development of photography: Hoepker dares to take a very close look at a country and its people: He photographs people in everyday situations and also looks at dark sides, such as racism and poverty. With his honesty, he fascinates numerous people to this day, which is also the reason why his pictures are represented in a large number of important museums and collections today.
Frames in action
The black and white photographs, taken during the first trip through the USA, were framed together with a white passepartout in plain black aluminum frames from the company HALBE. By using white passepartout and black picture frame, the colors of the photographs were picked up again, creating great harmony. The color photographs from New York were also framed in black Classic aluminum frames by HALBE, but this time a passepartout was omitted. Here, too, the black frame ensures coherence: despite the diversity of the images in terms of color and motif, all the color photographs thus share a common feature: their picture frame.