The History of Hamburg

With “Labour/Leisure in the Works of J. Hamann. The Photography Collection in Context,” the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MKG) is showing two selections of work from the J. Hamann photography studio in Hamburg: scenes depicting the world of work in factories, foreign trading offices, craft workshops, or out in the fields are juxtaposed with images of organized leisure in sports clubs.

The idea of leisure – understood in the modern sense as spare time away from the workplace – and the resulting separation of the realms of work and free time were a byproduct of industrialization. These themes inform the range of motifs produced by the J. Hamann Studio, which record daily life, often with a special flair for situational humour, and in the process sketch a vivid picture of Hamburg at the beginning of the twentieth century. The exhibition shows sixty historical prints and, in parallel with the sports|no sports exhibition, gives a suggestive impression of the world of work and of clubs and associations in the city.

The exhibition provides an insight into the estate of Johann Hamann (1859–1935), who in 1889 opened his first daylight studio in the network of alleys that was Hamburg’s Gängeviertel and in 1900 brought in his son Heinrich (1883–1975) to run the business with him.

Please find more information at Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg