THE WORLD AS ONE is an exhibition of 1990s professional documentary photography in colour, and features seventeen groups of works by nineteen photographers from Germany born between 1955 and 1971. Consisting almost entirely of independently researched projects concentrating on complex themes such as the effects of German unification, the withdrawal of the Russian Army from Germany, and the precipitous pace of economic and social change in Asia, THE WORLD AS ONE offers a unique insight into a new generation of German photographers.
Wolfgang Bellwinkel, Axel boesten & Kai-Olaf Hesse, Fred Dott,
Stephan Erfurt, Martin Fengel, Nikolaus Geyer, Jitka Hanzlová,
Peter Hendricks, Enno Kapitza, Eva Leitolf, Barbara Müller,
Frank Müller, Karin Apollonia Müller, Ulrike Myrzik and
Manfred Jarisch, Julia Sörgel, Ingo Taubhorn, Corinna Wichmann
All the photographers represented in this exhibition have a precise idea of their object, which they have been trained to investigate. Nevertheless, a certain scepticism is tangible about how the object is to be represented
This scepticism focuses on the medium of representation itself - photography - of which the photographers know that is does not copy its subjects but catches them, even grasps their meaning and transforms it or even turns it topsy turvy.
Ulf Erdmann Ziegler, 2000
Combining a sharp eye for everyday situations with technical skill, these photographers define themselves as 'artists' or alternatively as 'photojournalists'. In THE WORLD AS ONE they exhibit side by side, presenting mature photographic essays that are serious and unsentimental, sometimes ironic and never sarcastic.
Julia Sörgel's Rasborka series relates the hard struggle after the end of the Cold War, focusing on ethnic German immigrants from Kazakhstan. Axel Boesten and Kai-Olaf Hesse documented the bizarre landscapes around Dessau for two years, resulting in a body of work that mixes images of classical civilisation with scenes of post-industrial decline. Over a period of five years, Jitka Hanzlová travelled back to the Bohemian village where she was born in order to produce a gentle and melancholy series of portraits.
THE WORLD AS ONE continues the Centre for Contemporary Photography's commitment to showcasing and critically engaging with contemporary documentary practice. CCP currently provides Australia's only biennial touring exhibition and award for documentary photography.
Presented in association with the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, Berlin
and the Goethe Institut Inter Nationes, Melbourne.
Supported by the IFA, The Goethe Institute, and King and Wilson.
IMAGE:
Wolfgang Bellwinkel
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