Famous German Photographer Bernd Becher Dies at 75

Sunday, 22 July 2007 20:36

ROSTOCK, GERMANY - Famous German photographer Bernd Becher, 75, died recently in Rostock, Germany. Bernd Becher and his wife Hilla are famous for their industrial structures photography. They took photographs of mine winding towers, blast furnaces, gas tanks, grain elevators, water and cooling towers, and complexes of factory buildings. In 2004 they received the Hasselblad Foundation award.

Bernd (1931 – 2007) and Hilla (b. 1934) Becher first met at the Düsseldorf Academy. Both were studying painting at the time and in 1961, the two were married. They first collaborated on photographing and documenting the disappearing German industrial architecture in 1959, and had their first Gallery exhibition in 1963 at the Galerie Ruth Nohl in Siegen. They were fascinated by the similar shapes in which certain buildings were designed. In addition, they were intrigued by the fact that so many of these industrial buildings seemed to have been built with a great deal of attention toward design.

Together, the Bechers went out with a large format camera and photographed these buildings from a number of different angles, but always with a straightforward "objective" point of view. The images of structures with similar functions were then displayed side by side to invite viewers to compare their forms and designs. These structures included barns, water towers, storage silos, and warehouses.