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17/1/2014

Men

Johanna Breede Photokunst, Berlin

Sibylle Bergemann, Michael Birt, Heinz Hajek-Halke, Thomas Hoepker, Hannes Kilian, Birgit Kleber, Robert Lebeck, Herbert List, stefan moses, Ossip, Ulrike Ottinger, Beat Presser, Sheila Rock, Michael Ruetz, Max Scheler, Gundula Schulze Eldowy, Liselotte Strelow, Karin Székessy, Herbert Tobias, Kurt Wyss.

It’s a man’s world. James Brown even sang a song about it. Men were the ones who had invented cars, trains and ships. Men were the born creators. The “King of Soul” failed to mention however that it was also men who invented photography; men, who first created artificial images from light and chemicals. Technically enthusiastic homo faber. It was small wonder that such types initially found themselves mostly behind rather than in front of their new inventions; where they could tamper with lenses, shutters and apertures. The “sweet side” of the camera remained reserved for women – for the muse, the model, the femme fatale. At best, for purely representative purposes, they sometimes changed sides: for the emerging carte de visite, for official poses or sometimes to lend the serious regard of a “pater familias”.

Much has changed since then. Even men have now long dared to drop their traditional roles in front of the camera – they are allowed to appear broken, vulnerable or simply natural, as in a portrait from photographer Birgit Kleber, made three years ago, of her recently deceased New York colleague Saul Leiter. This photo does not portray a typical male, no “good fellow” full of hybris and heroism. Rather a grizzled, vulnerable boy looks out of this shot. He does not move his gaze directly towards the lens; but prefers to look slightly away – hand on chin with his face tilted downwards. Presumably, this is a totally honest picture. This is how Saul Leiter was; this master of American colour photography.

Men and myths, heros and realities, these are the reoccurring themes of the “Männer” photo exhibition, which can be seen in the Johanna Breede PHOTOKUNST gallery in Berlin between 18 January and 15 March. Works from 19 photographers – including Sibylle Bergemann, Thomas Höpker, Michael Ruetz, Max Scheler and Robert Lebeck – provide a glimpse behind the many masks of the supposedly stronger sex. The works are complemented by sculptures by the Dutch artist Ossip. Following the “Frauen” exhibition in early 2013, this exhibition further explores the photographic question of gender and role models in 20th and 21st century photography.

As with “Frauen“, at the beginning there is a work by Heinz Hajek-Halke: a male fantasy; a man’s imagining of woman . It is one of Hajek-Halke’s “combi-photographs” from 1932: “Defamation“. Three men in top hats and tails stand on a street, above which the photograph of the torso of a naked beauty is mounted. Desire and defence, phallic anxiety and phallic desire, everything appears to coalesce in this image; as in a psychological portrait of the male soul.

Stefan Moses also shows men in evening dress in this exhibition: these are pomaded ushers in the former House of Parliament in Bonn. The photo was taken in 1963. However, instead of eros and desire, Moses documents the deadlock of the pose; the shame and seriousness of the German post-war years. Not only was the land divided, but also male identities. This was not the new laxity. That came later from America: it was personified by Gary Cooper – by the “man from the West“. In 1953, photographer Hannes Kilian succeeded in attaining an impressive portrait. Stiffness meets dynamism in this image; American hero meets German defeated.

However even “the new man” experiences fractions and uncertainties. A early portrait from photographer Sheila Rock documents this quite impressively. It shows the young conductor Simon Rattle – at that time not yet the dishevelled genius, but rather a sensitive doubter. Men, as revealed by this work from the London music-photographer are much more than a cliché from an old pop song. They are as multi-layered and multi-facetted as the various styles and manuscripts of the photographers in this exhibition. (Text by Ralf Hanselle)

Image: Heinz Hajek-Halke 'Die üble Nachrede', 1932

Johanna Breede Photokunst
Fasanenstr. 69, 10719 Berlin
Hours:
Tue-Fri 11am-6m, Sat 11am-4pm

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