Roland Horn exhibits at Carnegie Hall's "Berlin in Lights"-Festival

Saturday, 03 November 2007 01:25

NEW YORK CITY - The Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York presents the exhibition "Berlin Hauptbahnhof photographed by Roland Horn" (The exhibition is part of Carnegie Hall's "Berlin in Lights"-Festival), on view through December 21, 2007.

The Project - Berlin based photographer Roland Horn spent eight years recording the construction of the new Berlin Hauptbahnhof. The result: impressive photographs depicting the highly complex logistical and technical process that went into building Europe's biggest railway hub.

For all the engineers' highly advanced know-how, the workers' abilities were still crucial in realizing the mammoth project. That is why, in addition to highlighting the functional structure's cool aesthetics, Roland Horn's photographic work focuses on the construction workers' arduous daily tasks. Structural metalworkers and industrial divers, concrete workers and welders, contrast vividly with the building's raw materials and its severe spacial structure.

In 1999 when I first took my camera to the construction site, I immediately realized what a gigantic undertaking the Berlin Hauptbahnhof was. It was not just a new building, but a central station built "from scratch" in the middle of a metropolis.

 From that moment, I was gripped by the empty concrete-walled halls. The graphic shapes of the exposed ceilings had their own beauty - like cathedrals.

Through my photographs I want to express my enthusiasm and show the sheer amount of work that goes into a major project of this kind. And I want to convey how beautiful a building can be." Roland Horn

The Photographer - Roland Horn (born 1964) trained as an industrial and advertising photographer. After working two years as an assistant to advertising and fashion photographers in Hamburg, he moved to Berlin in order to work with photographer Jim Rakete. This was followed by a year doing lighting design at the Berliner Schaubühne theatre before taking the plunge to set up his own photo studio and freelance. Since then, he has published several books of photographs as well as photo reports for magazines and agencies.

In May 2004 Roland Horn won the first prize at the Festival for professional Photography Belgrade. In October 2004 he was awarded at the Photokina in Cologne with the "Certificate of Recognized European Photographer". This award was given by the Association of Independent Professional Photographers - PPofE - and the european academy for photography and digital imaging - eap -. In January 2007 he was appointed to be a member of the DGPh (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie).