Buch, Englisch, Deutsch, Russisch, 160 Seiten, Format (B × H): 243 mm x 282 mm, Gewicht: 1022 g
Ost-Berlin in den Achtzigern | East Berlin in the Eighties
Buch, Englisch, Deutsch, Russisch, 160 Seiten, Format (B × H): 243 mm x 282 mm, Gewicht: 1022 g
ISBN: 978-3-96070-072-2
Verlag: Hartmann Books
((Please scroll down for English version)) In Anlehnung an den Ausspruch des französischen Filmregisseurs Robert Bresson »Mach sichtbar, was vielleicht ohne dich nie wahrgenommen worden wäre«, fotografierte der Berliner Fotograf Günter Steffen zwischen 1984 und 1989 einen beeindruckenden Zyklus über Ostberlins Mitte in der er damals lebte und arbeitete. Meistens in den frühen Morgenstunden streifte er durch scheinbar unberührte und leere Straßen, Plätze, Hinterhöfe, Ruinen und an der monströsen Berliner Mauer entlang. Die geisterhaft wirkende Atmosphäre der Szenerien hielt er mit seiner Kleinbildkamera in grobkörnigen z.T. überstrahlten Schwarzweiß-Fotografien fest. Die so entstandenen Bilder sind für ihn Zeugnisse damaliger Lebensgefühle wie Hilflosigkeit, Zerrissenheit und Wut – eine Endzeitstimmung, auch ausgelöst durch den vielfachen Verlust von Freunden, die in den Westen ausreisten. Dieser Untergangsstimmung in Steffens Fotografien stehen ausgewählte Textfragmente aus dem 1920 in Sowjetrussland geschriebenen dystopischen Roman »WIR« von Jewgenij Samjatin (*1884 Lebedjan, † 1937 Paris) gegenüber. Dieser politisch brisante Vorläufer weiterer berühmter dystopischer Romane ist die alptraumartige Beschreibung eines totalitären Überwachungsstaates. Günter Steffen wurde 1941 in Berlin geboren. Physikstudium an der Humboldt-Universität Berlin (Diplom 1967). Daran anschließend Tätigkeit als Wissenschaftlicher Assistent. 1976 Beginn der freiberuflichen Arbeit als Fotograf mit Schwerpunkt Dokumentar- und Straßenfotografie. Dazu ausgedehnte Reisen in Regionen der ehemaligen Sowjetunion. Heute lebt er in Templin (Uckermark).
Following the spirit of French director Robert Bresson’s maxim “Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen” photographer Günter Steffen produced an impressive cycle of work between 1984 and 1989, dealing with East Berlin’s Mitte district where he lived and worked. Predominantly in the early morning hours he traversed seemingly untouched and empty streets, squares, backyards, ruins, and locations along the monstrous Berlin Wall. He captured ghostly sceneries with his 35mm camera in grainy and contrasty black-and-white photographs. For him, the resulting images are testimonies of predominant feelings at the time. Helplessness, inner strife, and anger resulted in an end-times mood, which frequently was caused by the loss of friends who had left for the West. The feelings of doom in Steffen’s photographs are contrasted with selected text fragments from the dystopian Soviet novel WE, written by Yevgeny Zamyatin (*1884 Lebedyan, † 1937 Paris) in 1920. This politically explosive precursor to other famous dystopian novels is a nightmarish description of a totalitarian sur-veillance state. Günter Steffen was born in Berlin in 1941. He studied physics at Berlin’s Humboldt University. Following his diploma in 1967 he worked as a research assistant. In 1976, Steffen started to work as a freelance photographer with a focus on documentary and street photography. He traveled extensively across regions of the former Soviet Union. Today, he lives in Templin (Uckermark).
Samjatin / Jeschonnek
Günter Steffen, Die Hauptstadt | The Capital jetzt bestellen!
Following the spirit of French director Robert Bresson’s maxim “Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen” photographer Günter Steffen produced an impressive cycle of work between 1984 and 1989, dealing with East Berlin’s Mitte district where he lived and worked. Predominantly in the early morning hours he traversed seemingly untouched and empty streets, squares, backyards, ruins, and locations along the monstrous Berlin Wall. He captured ghostly sceneries with his 35mm camera in grainy and contrasty black-and-white photographs. For him, the resulting images are testimonies of predominant feelings at the time. Helplessness, inner strife, and anger resulted in an end-times mood, which frequently was caused by the loss of friends who had left for the West. The feelings of doom in Steffen’s photographs are contrasted with selected text fragments from the dystopian Soviet novel WE, written by Yevgeny Zamyatin (*1884 Lebedyan, † 1937 Paris) in 1920. This politically explosive precursor to other famous dystopian novels is a nightmarish description of a totalitarian sur-veillance state. Günter Steffen was born in Berlin in 1941. He studied physics at Berlin’s Humboldt University. Following his diploma in 1967 he worked as a research assistant. In 1976, Steffen started to work as a freelance photographer with a focus on documentary and street photography. He traveled extensively across regions of the former Soviet Union. Today, he lives in Templin (Uckermark).
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