For those interested in getting a visual insight into the international movement of subjective photography, Goethe-Institut is offering a display of 55 photographs titled “Subjective Photography 2” at its premises. In a collaborative effort with the VM Art Gallery, 165 pieces of art have been showcased in all, of which 110 have been placed at the VM Art Gallery, whereas the remaining photographs are on exhibition at the Institut. The collection has certainly risen up the bar of subjective photography by adding not only objective portrayal of the post-Nazi Germany, but adding to that a balanced element of personal imagery. Realising that experimental photography had been banned by the Nazis, German photographer Otto Steinert and his likes used the new technique for artistic expression.
The result was photographic work that is extreme photograph of commercial photography and could be called ‘author-produced photographs’. The compilation of photographs concentrates on scenes from the social life of the war-torn European country. The photographers have also showed a marked inclination towards capturing individuals in an artistically fastidious manner. Since photography had been widely used to promote ideological purposes during the Nazi era, photographers from the movement have clearly added bold patters, alienation and surrealistic effects, abstractions and allegories of speed to their work. Yet, the work of art continues to be exceptionally photographic.
The reason that attracts audience to the exhibition is the fact that although subjective photography has become an international phenomenon, German contribution to the campaign dates much later than that. The dates included in the title, 1948-1963 indicate the inception of the movement. As was the conviction of Steinert and his peers that the instrumentation of photography offers more than mere objective reproduction of reality, ‘subjective photography: The German Contribution 1948-1963’ showcases a subjective recollection which tells the tale of post-World War Germany, objectively.
