A set of 96 vivid black and white frames showed Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German Erich Honecken at the 30 anniversary celebrations of East Germany, German ocean liner Bremen on its maiden journey and the fall of the Berlin wall. There was also Simone de Beauvoir.
On Saturday, ‘Leap in time,’ a photo exhibition organised by Goethe Institut, in association with Asian College of Journalism, showcased defining photographs by renowned German photojournalists Erich Salomon (1886-1944) and Barbara Klemm (1939).
The photographs portrayed political movements and leaders, moments of personal joy and despair, intimate and candid portraits, the arrival of ‘guest workers’ in Germany, and life of those in exile, among defining moments in German history.
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The works of both photojournalists run parallel and symmetrical to each other, but look beyond staged photographs.
Barbara’s intense black and white photographs capture former German chancellor Helmut Kohl in his office, the fall of the Berlin wall, reunification of Germany, and the lives of workers who came from Turkey and other places to work in Germany.
Salomon captures candid photographs such as Reichstag president Paul Lobe in his office in 1939.
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While some of Salomon’s self portraits capture him with his son at a London hotel and with his luggage outside a hotel in Scotland, others show noted personalities looking at photographs taken by Salomon.
The four-day exhibition was curated by Andreas Roast, and concluded on Saturday.