Visual Analogies

• Peter Weller: Marienhütte Ironworks near Eiserfeld/Sieg, 1909-1914. Courtesy of Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne in collaboration with the Siegerländer Heimat- und Geschichtsverein e. V.
• Peter Weller: Wilhelmine Mine near Freusburg/Sieg (detail), 1903-1914 Courtesy of Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne in collaboration with the Siegerländer Heimat- und Geschichtsverein e. V.
• Bernd und Hilla Becher: Framework House, Siegen Industrial Region, Wilnsdorf, 1970 © Estate Bernd & Hilla Becher, represented by Max Becher, courtesy of Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur – Bernd and Hilla Becher Archive, Cologne, 2020
• August Sander: Small-town family, 1911 © Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur - August Sander Archive, Cologne; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2020
• August Sander: Daughter of a Mine Foreman, c. 1906 © Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur - August Sander Archive, Cologne; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2020

From September 28, 2020, SK Stiftung Kultur presents the showcase ‘Analogies – Bernd & Hilla Becher, Peter Weller, August Sander’. The exhibition will be on show at the cultural foundation’s exhibition space in Cologne until November 8, 2020.

The showcase illustrates the correlations between the approaches of Bernd and Hilla Becher, Peter Weller, and August Sander – both in terms of content and methodology. Peter Weller’s systematic oeuvre features documentary depictions of industrial landscapes in Germany’s Westerwald and Siegerland regions, as does the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher. Even some subject-based parallels can be identified.

Their sequential and typological approaches are, in turn, also evident in August Sander’s analytical yet empathic portraits. The selection not only includes Sander’s portraits of craftsmen and labourers, but also largely unknown works created in his home region – such as photographs captured in Herdorf, a small, industrial town in the Siegerland.    

For further information visit SK Stiftung Kultur Cologne