Born in 1927 in Berlin, Arno Fischer is one of the most important German photographers. In the 1950s he worked in East Berlin, reflecting like no other the situation of the divided city. Working as a fashion photographer, he produced highly influential images for the distinguished East German women’s magazine Sybille. Fischer’s keen eye and subtle narrative flair come to the fore in his expressive portraits and the memorable images of his travels through East Germany, Poland, India, Africa and New York.
Arno Fischer (b1927 in Berlin) – Photo taken in East Berlin 1956
In 1978 Arno Fischer and his wife, the photographer Sibylle Bergemann, retired to the countryside. For the past thirty years he has worked with a Polaroid camera, capturing the serendipitous still lifes and details he comes across in his garden in series of intimate pictures. Despite this apparent change of focus, the photographer has remained true to himself: ‘You don’t have to compose; the world is the composition’.
The Art and Exhibition Hall is delighted to be able to devote a comprehensive retrospective exhibition to the work of this outstanding photographer. Comprising approximately 170 photographs, among them numerous vintage prints, as well a selection of books, magazines and documents (for example the original draft for the legendary unpublished book Situation Berlin of 1961), the exhibition examines Fischer’s work in its historical and cultural context.
An exhibition of the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (IfA), Stuttgart, in cooperation with the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany, Bonn.
Open 5 November 2009 – 3 January 2010
www.kah-bonn.de
