Paul Almasy
dal 30/5/2006 al 18/7/2006
Segnalato da
30/5/2006
Paul Almasy
Artothek Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden
Two exhibitions showcasing the early work of this pioneer of reportage photography, celebrating the centenary of the photographer's birth on 29 May. 100 images taken with his Leica during the first ten years of Almasy's career from 1935.
Early Work
Following the hitherto largest retrospective of the work of Paul Almasy in the
Opelvillen Russelsheim, two further exhibitions showcasing the early work of this
pioneer of reportage photography, celebrating the centenary of the photographer's
birth on 29 May. Exactly 100 images taken with his Leica during the first ten years
of Almasy's career from 1935 onwards will be on show at Artothek Wiesbaden and
Galerie photonet in a double exhibition, entitled "Paul Almasy - das Fruhwerk"
("Paul Almasy - Early Work").
Alongside photographs of Europe taken on the eve of the Second World War and during
the conflict itself, both exhibitions focus on images from Almasy's extended
journeys through South America, Africa and the Near East: travelling by car through
the Algerian Sahara to French West Africa, from Beirut via the Kurdish oil fields to
Baghdad and into Iran. Almasy crossed Africa from west to east, journeying into the
jungles of the Congo, through the Arabian world on the Red Sea and to the Horn of
Africa. Almasy's work, which displays an exceptional aesthetic confidence for such
an "amateur" photographer, continues to grow in importance, not least because
Almasy, who had studied political science, was exceptionally receptive to the
beginnings of those conflicts which today have turned many of the places he visited
into geopolitical no-go areas.
A Hungarian by birth who later settled in France, Paul Almasy (Budapest 29 May 1906
- Jouars-Pontchartrain 22 September 2003) has until now been best known for the
sincerity of vision in his photographs from the 1950s, taken with his Rollei camera
during official trips for international organisations of the United Nations.
His legendary "World Archive", 120,000 photographs spanning over five decades and
covering five continents, is a unique collection of work, now held by akg-images in
Berlin (www.akg-images.com).
Private view: Wednesday, 31 May 2006, 7 pm
Artothek Wiesbaden
Im Rad 20 - Wiesbaden
Hours: Mon-Thurs 8am-12pm and 2pm-4pm, Wed 8am-1pm and 2-7pm, Fri 8am-12pm. First Saturday in the month 9am-1pm