The Photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher 

We are pleased to present the film The Photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher (Germany 2008, 52 mins) by Marianne Kapfer in conjunction with the opening of the exhibition ‘Whitstable – Tankerton’ (6 Dec 2008 – 21 Feb 2009; Private View 5 Dec, 6 – 9pm) by former Becher student Götz Diergarten.

Marianne Kapfer and Götz Diergarten will be present for a post-screening discussion. This film will be presented as part of the London Festival of European Art Documentaries “What’s Art Doc?” (18 Nov – 9 Dec 2008).

The German photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher are among the most influential artists of our time. For more than forty years they have been recording water towers, coal mines, gas containers or framework houses – the heritage of an industrial past. Their systematic photography of functionalist architecture, often organising their pictures in grids, brought them recognition as conceptual artists as well as photographers. As the founders of what has come to be known as the ‘Becher school’ they have brought their influence to generations of documentary photographers and artists. The combination of extreme photographic sensitivity and skills with conceptual qualities in documentary photographic practice also characterises the approach of their former pupils, the now highly successful artists Thomas Struth, Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff, Candida Höfer and others. Bernd and Hilla Becher give us an insight into their life and work: their approach, their motivation and their fascination with industrial buildings. The documentary also features interviews with their curators, companions and students including Götz Diergarten.


http://www.goethe.de/ins/gb/lon/kue/de2979944v.htm