Outside on the Inside, Inside on the Outside: People and landscape in photography
A group exhibition with works by Ellen Auerbach, Alfred Ehrhardt, Orri Jónsson, Aino Kannisto, Anne Lass and Christa Meyer will be presented at the Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation. By Dr. Marie Christine Jádi.
This exhibition presents unpublished portraits of Alfred Ehrhardt (1901–84), taken during his photographic travels simultaneously with his landscape photographs.
While the photographers’ approaches may differ, all of the images demonstrate how the intimacy of portraiture influences the perception of landscape through photography. Conversely, they also reveal how the distinct qualities of a landscape, with its intangibles and allure, shape the individuals within it. In essence, this exhibition explores how the exterior is reflected internally and vice versa.
Alfred Ehrhardt described a landscape image as “more than the sum of individual geographical phenomena, it is a living being”. Renowned for his outstanding nature photography, Ehrhardt had a particular interest in the people who inhabit landscapes and their living conditions. During his travels to northern Germany, Italy, Portugal and the United States in the 1930s and 1950s, he captured compelling images of people in their familiar surroundings, which are now being exhibited. Ehrhardt’s photographs capture the emotional connections between people and spaces, depicting familiarity, safety and security.
Ellen Auerbach also evokes a sense of belonging with those around her. After emigrating to the United States in 1933, she created extraordinary photographs of personalities from her circle of friends and acquaintances of hers. Among them is a 1954 photograph of her roommate and dancer, Renate Schottelius, leaping across Manhattan rooftops. In addition, he photographed the four “Porter children” by the sea during a vacation with friends. Her images capture unique and intimate moments that highlight the interplay between spaces and individuals.
Anne Lass, a German-Danish photographer, studied at the renowned Folkwang University of the Arts and received the C/O Berlin Talent Award in 2009. Her latest series, “Low Season”, created during the initial winter of the pandemic of Corona, explores the interaction of people with their surroundings. The photographer’s fellow islanders, friends and neighbors retreated to their own personal spaces. Absorbed in their inner worlds, they seem to exist outside of time. Despite the privacy conveyed in the images, viewers are welcome to share their thoughts.
The work of Aino Kannisto, a Helsinki school photographer, focuses on children photographed during the summer at a lake in the wilderness of the Nordic forest, a place of fascination and nostalgia for many childhood memories. Her childlike essence, charm and immediacy serve as the basis for the photo series. Despite looking directly at the photographer and the camera, the children’s actions remain enigmatic. These large format images reveal the mystery and inner beauty of children.
The innocence of children’s perception of the world is also felt in the work of the Icelandic musician and photographer Orri Jónsson. His images capture his four children as they grow, from infancy to adolescence. With an unpretentious coziness and a refined sensibility for detail, she offers a poignant look into her family’s history. The introspective quality of his portraits correlates with the outdoor shots of the places the family calls home.
Christa Meyer, Berlin photographer, initially worked as a psychologist, then studied at the legendary Kreuzberg Werkstatt für Fotografie and recently received recognition from the Berlinische Galerie. Early photographs of her portray patients of a long-term narrow psychiatric ward with familiarity and sensitivity. Caught between the realms of portrait and landscape, Mayer’s images exude grace and presence: her sister, a nun, enters a dark forest on foot; children disguised in ruins against the backdrop of a Mexican desert landscape; a Madonna with her child.
Outside on the Inside, Inside on the Outside: People and landscape in photography
July 15 – September 10, 2023
Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation – Berlin, GERMANY
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