A Portrait of West Germany
A Portrait of West Germany
June 9, 2026
© Joachim Giesel: Exercise group in a retirement home, 1979
Hanoverian photographer Joachim Giesel (b. 1940 in Breslau) has been documenting the political, social, economic and cultural developments in the Federal Republic of Germany for more than five decades. Be it in his photo essays, series, portraits, or advertising photography: people have always been the core focus of his work. In 1965, he accompanied Queen Elisabeth II’s visit to Hanover; in 1967, he was in the crowd of mourners at the funeral of Benno Ohnesorg; in 1974, he covered the legendary football match between East Germany and Brazil at the Niedersachsen Stadium. He captured portraits of every federal chancellor from Konrad Adenauer to Helmut Kohl, created a series on the residents of a psychiatric hospital, and photographed notable personalities ranging from Franz Beckenbauer to Udo Jürgens, from Max Frisch to Doris Dörrie, and from Louis Armstrong to Rudolf Augstein.
Giesel’s images are visually compelling chronicles that offer fascinating insights into the culture and social fabric of West Germany – capturing a world between prefab housing and suburban homes, drag queens and assembly-line workers, Swan Lake and nudist clubs. This retrospective marks the first time the photographer’s oeuvre is presented in all its thematic and aesthetic diversity, and analysed against the backdrop of contemporary discourses. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, released by Hirmer Publishing.
Katrin UllmannGiesel’s images are visually compelling chronicles that offer fascinating insights into the culture and social fabric of West Germany – capturing a world between prefab housing and suburban homes, drag queens and assembly-line workers, Swan Lake and nudist clubs. This retrospective marks the first time the photographer’s oeuvre is presented in all its thematic and aesthetic diversity, and analysed against the backdrop of contemporary discourses. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, released by Hirmer Publishing.
© Joachim Giesel: Exercise group in a retirement home, 1979