The Two Germanies

Dirk Reinartz (1947–2004) shaped German reportage and documentary photography in ways few others have before or since. The f3 – freiraum für fotografie in Berlin now presents excerpts from his extensive oeuvre, sourced from the archive holdings of the F.C. Gundlach Foundation and the Deutsche Fotothek Dresden. 

The exhibition specifically focuses on the theme of German identity with all its contradictions and historical ties. It also explores the re-orientation of this identity following the fall of the Berlin Wall and East Germany’s last state elections, whose legacy reverberates into the present day. 

Much of the photographer’s oeuvre was created as commissioned assignments. From 1971 to 2004, Reinartz’s work was widely published in journals and magazines such as Stern, Merian or ZEITmagazin, as well as art and via the VISUM agency. The resulting reach of his photographs is barely imaginable today.

This was complemented by his independent projects, starting with the book Kein schöner Land (No Fairer Land): a swan song dedicated to the visual expression of the German spirit, compiled from a selection of works spanning from 1978 to 1987. The title was taken from the eponymous German folk song, whose lyrics – “No land near and far, more beautiful than ours at this time” reflect the romanticised spirit of the liberal protests in 1848. When the photographer used No Fairer Land as the name of his book, it was intended as an ironic refraction; now it returns as the title of this exhibition – once again serving as a complex ode to Germany “at this time”.