PHOTOGRAPHS
Becher, Bernd; Becher, Hilla
Germany (1931 - 2007); Germany (1934 - 2015)
Blast Furnaces U.S.A., Luxembourg and Germany
1979 - 1986
Gelatin silver print
15 3/4 x 12 in. (40 x 30.5 cm) image and sheet size; 62 x 50 in. (157.5 x 127 cm) installed size
Joseph and Elaine Monsen Photography Collection, gift of Joseph and Elaine Monsen and The Boeing Company
FA 97.22.1 to 9

Bernd and Hilla Becher are perhaps the most influential teachers and artists in contemporary German photography; their work virtually defines the term "typology." A husband-and-wife team, they have worked together as artists since they were students at the Kunstakademie in Dusseldorf. Influenced by the post World War I work of Albert Renger-Patzsch and Karl Blossfeldt, the Bechers' photographs are typically grouped to form a series of similar structures: arrays of homes, factories, machinery - some historically relevant, others not. Each photograph is taken from a consistent frontal view of the structure, with the subject almost filling the frame. The Bechers arrange their photographs in groups of six to twenty-four to juxtapose similarities (and subtle differences) between the objects. Such work is at once a documentation of our industrial heritage and a glimpse at the intrinsic beauty of abstract form. The Bechers' photography owes much to turn of the century scientific documentation, but also shows a profound interest in the modern concept of the "found" art object. -- Label copy for After Art: Rethinking 150 years of Photography, December 4, 1994 to March 26, 1995.