On the Cover Photo

The picture of the couple dancing was taken in 1985 at the ‘Ball des Sports’ in Frankfurt on the Main. The tanned back of a lady, with finely-tied ribbon appliqués, and the casual hand of her dancing partner, beneath, are perfectly framed. The missing heads make the couple unidentifiable, so that they become representatives of the code of behaviour of so-called better society.

The photographer's long-term projects repeatedly explore the different forms of expression, rules, styles and dress codes of certain groups in society. Whether homes and living spaces or hairstyles and clothing, Herlinde Koelbl always develops conceptual series that go beyond simple documentary. With a precise eye, she repeatedly scrutinises her most important criteria for a successful image: “when it reaches beyond the moment; when it has a universal statement and energy.” And so the Feine Leute (High Society) series has lost none of its inherent insight into the saturation on display, the role clichés and the rituals of West German society in the early 1980s.

Koelbl travelled extensively, between 1979 and 1985, for her project. She photographed in Baden-Baden, Bayreuth, Berlin, Bonn, Frankfurt on the Main, Hamburg, Regensburg, St. Moritz and Vienna; but, primarily, in Munich, many times. She attended film, opera and press balls, festival openings, racing and winter sports festivities, fashion shows and even a magnificent princely wedding. “I always had myself accredited at the festivals,” Koelbl explains. Feine Leute, which she photographed with her Leica R4, was also “a completely free project, my own idea; it wasn't an assignment.”

Above all, it was body language and the relationship between men and women that took centre stage in the series: usually with close-up excerpts – direct, unsparing and often with a good dose of irony. Koelbl was always interested in “what body language reveals; what the moments can tell us about society and about people. When I danced, I tried to be part of the movement – sometimes closer to the edge, but also from the inside, I always tried to observe. My attitude is to move as organically as possible, not to stand out, and to be a good observer,” says the photographer, emphasising: “You mustn't be part of society; otherwise you lose the accurate perspective.”