Ursula Arnold, Arno Fischer, Evelyn Richter
Capturing Time
03 Jul - 03 Oct 2016
Ursula Arnold, 1. Mai, Berlin 1965 © Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung
Arno Fischer, Müritz, 1956 © Erbengemeinschaft Arno Fischer
Evelyn Richter, Musikviertel, Leipzig 1976 © Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung
URSULA ARNOLD, ARNO FISCHER, EVELYN RICHTER
Capturing Time
3 July - 3 October 2016
An exhibition of the Evelyn Richter Archive of the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung at the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig
For the first time in a museum exhibition, the three photographers Ursula Arnold (1929-2012), Arno Fischer (1927-2011) and Evelyn Richter (*1930) are being presented together, with a representative selection of their extensive bodies of work displayed in relation to one another. Commonalities and differences become apparent, together with the respectively specific approaches. In this exhibition three oeuvres and vitae of the leading exponents of socio-artistic photography can be discovered, each of whom chose their own path to escape the prevailing imagery of the GDR.
Whilst Arno Fischer had an autodidactic approach to photography, Ursula Arnold and Evelyn Richter both completed apprenticeships as photographers, learning the art of traditional photography in a studio. The two young photographers met in Leipzig in 1953. After completing their apprenticeships they went on to study at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts. They became bound by a deep friendship, as well as interacting with their art. Arno Fischer and Evelyn Richter met in Leipzig in 1957. Fischer was enthusiastic about Richter's work, which he saw in the action fotografie exhibition. The two stayed in contact, following each other's work with mutual respect. Whilst Ursula Arnold took up a position as television camerawoman in Berlin in 1957 and subsequently only took photographs in her spare time, Evelyn Richter and Arno Fischer continued to work as freelance photographers in Leipzig and Berlin respectively. All three photographers look for and find their motifs in everyday life. Subjective pictures from and of their direct environment are created as a result. Rejecting the official motifs of the GDR, their photographs contradicted the socialist world view that was promoted. Their work instead posed questions and told the stories that lay behind the pictures.
The first major museum exhibition of the Evelyn Richter Archive, established in 2009, aims to focus attention beyond the region on the still-neglected subject of photography in the GDR, expanding the discussion at national level.
The catalogue accompanying the exhibition is published by Kettler Verlag Dortmund.
The exhibition is possible thanks to the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung in co-operation with Sparkasse Leipzig.
Capturing Time
3 July - 3 October 2016
An exhibition of the Evelyn Richter Archive of the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung at the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig
For the first time in a museum exhibition, the three photographers Ursula Arnold (1929-2012), Arno Fischer (1927-2011) and Evelyn Richter (*1930) are being presented together, with a representative selection of their extensive bodies of work displayed in relation to one another. Commonalities and differences become apparent, together with the respectively specific approaches. In this exhibition three oeuvres and vitae of the leading exponents of socio-artistic photography can be discovered, each of whom chose their own path to escape the prevailing imagery of the GDR.
Whilst Arno Fischer had an autodidactic approach to photography, Ursula Arnold and Evelyn Richter both completed apprenticeships as photographers, learning the art of traditional photography in a studio. The two young photographers met in Leipzig in 1953. After completing their apprenticeships they went on to study at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts. They became bound by a deep friendship, as well as interacting with their art. Arno Fischer and Evelyn Richter met in Leipzig in 1957. Fischer was enthusiastic about Richter's work, which he saw in the action fotografie exhibition. The two stayed in contact, following each other's work with mutual respect. Whilst Ursula Arnold took up a position as television camerawoman in Berlin in 1957 and subsequently only took photographs in her spare time, Evelyn Richter and Arno Fischer continued to work as freelance photographers in Leipzig and Berlin respectively. All three photographers look for and find their motifs in everyday life. Subjective pictures from and of their direct environment are created as a result. Rejecting the official motifs of the GDR, their photographs contradicted the socialist world view that was promoted. Their work instead posed questions and told the stories that lay behind the pictures.
The first major museum exhibition of the Evelyn Richter Archive, established in 2009, aims to focus attention beyond the region on the still-neglected subject of photography in the GDR, expanding the discussion at national level.
The catalogue accompanying the exhibition is published by Kettler Verlag Dortmund.
The exhibition is possible thanks to the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung in co-operation with Sparkasse Leipzig.