Frankfurt in Pictures

Barbara Klemm (b. 1939) is one the most widely known chroniclers of recent German history. During her 45-year career as an editorial photographer for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (1970 to 2005), she was responsible for the newspaper’s politics and culture pages. Her pictures of leading personalities from the fields of politics, culture, music and art, as well as her international photo reportages, gained acclaim far beyond the borders of Germany and have been recognised with numerous awards. 

In addition to her assignments all around the world, the photojournalist also captured her impressions of Frankfurt, her home city since 1959. With Frankfurt Bilder (Frankfurt Images), the Historisches Museum now presents around 250 of these works, spanning from the mid-1960s to the present day. The baryta prints on display were enlarged by the photographer herself. 

Klemm’s black and white images combine the perfection of her formal training as a photographer, with her masterful use of the full spectrum of grey tones between pure whites and deep blacks. With an unerring sense for the decisive moment and a clear understanding of what constitutes a good photograph, she documents ordinary and extraordinary moments from the vantage point of a ‘participating observer’. 

The exhibition is accompanied by a book of the same title, released by Steidl Publishing.