Hippies, Nuns & Acrobats

With the exhibition MitMenschen – Von Hippies, Nonnen und Akrobaten, Leica Gallery Frankfurt presents a key part of Thomas Hoepker’s life’s work. The primary focus of the showcase is the artist whose multi-faceted experiences gave rise to such a wide variety of situations – culminating in visual stories that can almost be read like a book. The showcase features mostly unknown images that were ‘rediscovered’ in the photographer’s archive last summer.

As a photojournalist, Thomas Hoepker (b. 1936 in Munich) traveled all around the world: he documented suffering, poverty and famines, but also the beauty of nature and humanity. People and social themes have always been his main interest. He is a true humanist, whose photographic approach is often associated with the social-documentary genre of ‘concerned photography’. With a keen eye and great sensitivity, he has captured politically motivated, socio-critical images – while allowing space for a good dose of humour. Serendipity plays an important role in his photography – often inspiring renditions of reality that are infused with irony and wit. At the same time, he always respects those he portrays and never compromises their dignity.

The showcased photographs revolve around everyday scenes of idiosyncratic people and perspectives, absurd architecture and landscape shots, or simply comical situations and encounters. What clearly transpires from these images is the personality behind the camera, whose skilful, well thought-out compositions paint a picture of society infused with subtle humour and understated acuity. As the photographer himself once put it: “Our task is to extract the moments that are worth seeing from the tangle of ordinary life.”