Fc Gundlach 1h341t

Biography F.C. Gundlach (Franz Christian Gundlach) born 16. Juli 1926 in Heinebach, Hessen is photographer, gallery owner, collector, curator and founder. Since September 2003 he is the Founding Director of the House of Photography in the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg. From 1946 to 1949 he visited the Private Lehranstalt für Moderne Lichtbildkunst of Rolf W. Nehrdich in Kassel. Since 1949 he mainly published theatre and film reportages as a freelance photographer for magazines such as Deutsche Illustrierte, Stern, Quick and Revue. In 1953 he began his specialisation in fashion photography journalism-style with his work for the Hamburg magazine Film und Frau. He mainly photographed the fashion of Berlin fashion designers, Parisian Haute Couture and always fur campaigns. A further focus of his work was on fashion reportages with film stars in fashion and artist portraits among whom were Romy Schneider, Hildegard Knef, Dieter Borsche and Jean-Luc Godard. Since then, F.C. Gundlach has gone on fashion and reportage travels to the Middle and Far East as well as Central and South America for magazines like Film und Frau, Stern, Annabelle and Twen. Until 1983 he photographed many of the trend-setting fashion pieces within the framework of an exclusive contract with the magazine Brigitte. Location travels led him to South America, to Africa, but most of all to New York and the American West Coast in the 1970s and 80s. F.C. Gundlach’s fashion photographs of the 1950s, 60s and 70s that dealt again and again with social phenomena and current trends in visual arts, achieved iconic status, left their original context behind them and found their way into museums and collections. Retrospectively created solo exhibitions such as ‘ModeWelten’ (Fashion Worlds, 1985), ‘Die Pose als Körpersprache’ (Posture as Body Language,1999), ‘Bilder machen Mode’ (Images Create Fashion, 2004) or ‘F.C. Gundlach. Das fotografische Werk’ (F.C. Gundlach. The Photographic Work, 2008) were shown in many museums and galleries at home and abroad. From 1975 to 1992 F.C. Gundlach showed more than 100 exhibitions in his PPS. Gallery with works from Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, from Joel-Peter Witkin and Robert Mapplethorpe, from Martin Kippenberger and Albert Oehlen, from Nan Goldin and Wolfgang Tillmans. With the start of the eighties he focused his attention on collecting photographic works and the conception of internationally recognized photo exhibits. His collection of photographic works under the title ‘The Image of Man in Photography’ is one of ’s most important private photography collections and is available to the House of Photography on permanent loan. In the year 2000 he established the F.C. Gundlach Foundation, whose purpose is the promotion of art, science and research in the field of photography, and especially of photography as a cultural asset.

BIOGRAPHY F.C. GUNDLACH July 16, 1926 Born in Heinebach/Hessen His parents Heinrich Gundlach (1894–1954) and Katharina Gundlach, née Nöding (1896–1968) run the restaurant „Zum Löwen in Heinebach“ 1936 First camera, an Agfa Box with self-timer 1936–1943 Jacob Grimm Grammar School, Rotenburg/Fulda 1938 Sets up a darkroom 1943 Wartime school-leaving exams, enlisted as Luftwaffe personnel 1945 January: transferred to the front near Wrocław Late January: wounded, transferred westward in an ambulance train April: taken prisoner by the U. S. forces End of April to mid-August: POW camp Rennes/, Cage 12 End of August: Camp fever and pulmonary tuberculosis in a camp in the Auvergne near Oradour 1946 Transferred to the POW hospital Göppingen, later to the lung sanatorium Melsungen 15. Juni 1947– 30. Juni 1949 June 15, 1947 – June 30, 1949: trains as a photographer at Rolf W. Nehrdich’s Private School for Modern Photography in Kassel 1948 School closes to save coal; opens a photo studio in Heinebach with classmate Constanze Kupferberg, closed three weeks later by injunction on behalf of the photographers’ guild. 1949–1953 Works as an assistant in various studios: uly 28 to September 15, 1949: operator in the Hollywood Studios (photo lab Ernst O. Keller) in Wiesbaden

September 16, to December 31, 1950: assistant to Ingeborg Hoppe in Stuttgart Until 1953: freelance assistant to Harry Meerson in Paris Seit 1949 Publications in radio and television magazines such as Film-Revue, Funk-Illustrierte and Gong Star portraits and (fashion) journalism in illustrated magazines such as Elegante Welt, Film und Frau and stern 1950 First trip to . 1951 October 27 to November 27: “F.C. Gundlach” exhibition in the Librairie Jean Robert, Paris 1952 August 1: ed as a professional “photojournalist” with the Stuttgart authorities Founds Studio 50 with Hans Dieter Schmoll and Horst Jerichow Publications in radio and fashion magazines, sometimes using the pseudonyms “Fenner-Foto” and “Davidis”; advertising photos for Heinzelmann and other clients 1953 Beginning of an intensive collaboration with Film und Frau, for which he photographs over 100 cover pictures and over 2500 pages in the fashion section by 1966

1954–1966 Assignments for Constanze, stern, Quick and other magazines alongside his work for Film und Frau Location-scouting trips to Africa and Asia as well as North, Central and South America

Advertising photos for Jobis, Maris, IWS and fur companies such as Saga, Thompson, Berger

Seit 1955 Assignments for Deutsche Lufthansa, takes photos on the inaugural flight of the Deutsche Lufthansa’s North American line, on the South America inaugural flight with the Super Constellation and many other flights

1963 Begins an intensive working relationship with the magazine Brigitte, photographing over 180 cover pictures and over 5500 pages for the fashion section by 1986 1966 Exclusive contract with Brigitte

1966–1986 Location-scouting trips to Africa, Asia, North and South America Continues to publish photos in Annabelle, Revue and other magazines alongside his work for Brigitte Advertising photos for Falke Fashion, Van Delden, Sinz and others

1967 Founds the company CC (Creative Color GmbH) 1971 Founds the company PPS (Professional Photo Service) as a photographers’ service enterprise providing black-and-white and color labs, a rental service, rental studios and a specialized bookstore

1975 Founds the PPS. Galerie F.C. Gundlach, where he presents ca. 100 thematic and monographic exhibitions up until 1992

1972 Appointed to the German Society for Photography, DGPh; member of the board, 1976 to 1996 1976–1987 Member of the board, Association of Freelance Photographers, BFF, honorary board member from 1988 1980 Appointed member of the German Photographic Academy, DFA 1988 Appointed professor at the Berlin University of the Arts

Seit 1989 Curates photography exhibitions 1991 Awarded the Biermann-Ratjen Medal 1992 Sells the PPS group.

1993 Founds the Photography Work Group in Hamburg 1997 Awarded the Federal Cross of Merit 1999 Initiates the Triennial of Photography in Hamburg 2000 Founds the F.C. Gundlach Foundation to maintain, study and expand the collection of his own work and the collection on “The Human Image in Photography” that he had built up since 1975 Honorary professorship at the Visual Arts Academy, Hamburg

Appointed member of the Free Academy of the Arts, Hamburg 2001 Culture Award from the German Society for Photography

2003 Appointed founding director of the House of Photography, Deichtorhallen Hamburg a permanent loan to the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg Expansion and restructuring of the F.C. Gundlach Foundation

2004 Conversion of the southern Deichtorhalle 2005 Reopening of the House of Photography with the exhibition “Martin Munkacsi – Think While You Shoot”

2006 Medal for Art and Science from the Hamburg Senate 2008 Made an honorary citizen of the town of Alheim/Heinebach

2009 F.C. Gundlach becomes the first photographer to receive the Forum Award of the textile industry

F.C. Gundlach Collection ‘Collecting is a creative act, a method of self-awareness and a possibility to participate in the ions of another. A collector selects subjectively without regard to proportion or obligation towards the public. Selection criterion is not only an intellectual approach to a particular art, but most of all an emotional: The joy to live with this piece of art. However a collection without a concept is just an accumulation. Focused on one style, topic or object it’s a personal résumé, a critical and affirmative commentary on tendencies in contemporary art at the same time. In the course of time and under the impression of personal and social changes a collection changes like a living organism. Today the main emphasis of my collection lies thematically in pictures depicting people in their temporality and fragility.’ F.C. Gundlach Over many decades F.C. Gundlach, one of the most important fashion photographers of West , collected photography and gathered one of the most significant private photography collections. The centre of the collection forms the ‘Image of Man in Photography’ – mainly fashion photography in the broadest sense, i.e. nude photography as well as documentary photography and ‘street photography’. Furthermore the collection is comprised of major omnibus volumes of art photography from 1900, subjective photography and the works of visual artists that used the media photography. With the opening of the ‘House of Photography’ in the southern Deichtorhalle in Hamburg, the core of the collection to the ‘Image of Man in Photography’ found its way into this house established by F.C. Gundlach.

The F.C. Gundlach Foundation “From the outset the image of man has been subject of photographic producing. Of particular importance are those photographic pictures that disclose, beyond their being historical documents, new perspectives on human dignity and vulnerability.” taken from the preamble of the F.C. Gundlach Foundation The purpose of the F.C. Gundlach Foundation, which F.C. Gundlach established in 2000, is to promote photography as an artistically and socially imporant cultural asset. The F.C. Gundlach Foundation is in charge of the F.C. Gundlach Collection, as well as his

photographic work. Furthermore the foundation isters a number of photographic remains, omnibus volumes and external donations. In close cooperation with the House of Photography in the Deichtorhallen, which was founded in 2003 by F.C. Gundlach and isters the F.C. Gundlach Library and the core of the F.C. Gundlach Collection to the “Image of Man in Photography” on permanent loan, the F.C. Gundlach Foundation stages exhibitions, projects and photographic coffee-table books.

F.C. Gundlach ranks as the most significant fashion photographer of 's post-war years. His name has gone down in the pages of fashion history and even today he still wields great influence on photography in – as an initiator of exhibitions, a collector and as a patron. A ion for the medium In Hamburg's Harvestehude district there is a residential street called Parkallee in which one mansion is more splendid than the other. This is where the F.C. Gundlach Foundation has its headquarters. It is the control centre for all the projects organised by F.C. Gundlach and his team. Born in 1926, he became 's leading fashion photographer of the 50s and 60s and one might think he would now like to rest on his laurels – no way. “I am still out there – on the edge,” he says. Although Gundlach has not actually done any professional photography since the beginning of the 90s, he is still obsessed with the medium – a ion he cannot let go of.

A impressive showcase of the master's work

His current project is the exhibition, F.C. Gundlach – Das fotografische Werk (The Oeuvre of F.C. Gundlach). It was on in the House of Photography at the Deichtorhallen galleries in Hamburg in September 2008 and will be shown in the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin from 20 November 2009 until 14 March 2010. The project brought together four curators who have compiled an impressive showcase of the master's work (350 exhibits) which also serves as an excellent overview of the development of fashion photography from the 1950s to the 1980s. “In 1950/51 I was in Paris. That was so important for me as back then Paris was the cultural hub of the world,” F.C. Gundlach tells enthusiastically. He did his training at a private school of photography, he worked as an assistant, then as a photo-journalist. In Paris he soon came into with film; he did some portrait photos of stars and had them published in what was then a very popular magazine – Film und Frau. “Then the editor-in-chief said he would like me to do some fashion photos. He was convinced that I could photograph fashion and that is how my career as a fashion photographer started.” A career as a fashion photographer With the help of German film stars like Ruth Leuwerik and Nadja Tiller Gundlach managed to give fashion a dramatic touch. Whenever the new collections were to be presented in Berlin, the photographer moved into a studio on the Kurfürstendamm for three weeks. He attended the shows in Paris - Dior, Jacques Fath. “The shows back then were almost like sacred rituals. No choreography, no music and nobody was allowed to take photos or make sketches.” In fact the world of fashion photography in the 50s was a completely different one to that of today. There were no stylists, no visagists at fashion shoots. “I had to do it all myself,” says Gundlach. The models were almost always the mannequins for whom the clothes had been tailored and who modelled them in the salons. When it came to the collections the utmost secrecy had to be preserved. The shoots often had to take place in the immediate vicinity of the fashion house. When shooting on location the models had to drape the clothes in white sheets that were then removed for a few minutes for the shoot. You had to be quick. Not the most ideal working conditions, you might think, but F.C. Gundlach developed his own visual language. He does not simply project a fashion image, he interprets it. His photographs are full of dramatic ideas and yet still manage to impart a formal severity of composition. “A fashion photo has to reflect the spirit of the times” “A fashion photo has to have a fashion message, otherwise its purpose has been defeated,” this is still the way he thinks today. It was the clothes themselves that helped him to develop the ideas for his photos. “The cut of the cloth, the arrangement of the folds could be the subject of an image,” he says. He was able to show the cut of the cloth by making the model stride forth, but that is just one aspect among many. “A fashion photo has to reflect the spirit of the times.” And the spirit of the times was exactly the thing F.C. Gundlach had an unfaltering instinct for. “At the end of the 50s I felt that the times were changing – society was in flux and, along with it, style as well,” he explains. “I bought one of those compact cameras that were uncommon at the time and did a series of photos for Nino Stoffe.” He positioned the model in a dockside bar, on the dockside steps, and included ers-by in the picture. This is how the fashion photo-article came about – a method that has not lost any of its impact even today. F.C. Gundlach, who first got the photo-article ball rolling, always managed to embrace these impulses in his fashion photography. Many years of collaboration with the German women's magazine, Brigitte If the 50s were the decade of the lady of elegance, of sophisticated clothes and haute couture, then the

60s heralded in the desire for political change, emancipation and the age of the prêt-à-porter collection. And F.C. Grundlach now had a new key – the high-circulation German women's magazine, Brigitte. The magazine's role model was not the elegant lady, but the fashionable young woman who had both feet firmly on the ground. In collaboration with the magazine's editor, Barbara Buffa, F.C. Gundlach succeeded in capturing the tastes of the moment like no other. Between 1963 and 1986 F.C. Gundlach produced more than 5,500 fashion pages as well as 180 covers for Brigitte. They sent him on jobs to Africa, South America and the USA. Alongside the photo-article approach he also became much more inspired by the fine arts – op-art and pop-art being two genres that he, as a collector of art, focused on. One series of his photos that was inspired by op-art came about in Egypt in 1966, where the models' heads, looking like round balls in bathing caps, were placed in stark contrast to the classic architectural form of the triangular pyramids. This caused an almighty fracas. “The editor called me and said that the editor-in-chief found the series much too highbrow,” he recounts. Then that is the end of us working together, he replied, and hung up – as Gundlach tells the tale. The photos were then published under the title “All day long at the beach”. Apart from that F.C. Gundlach has nothing else negative to say about his employer. No rows. No dissatisfaction. He saw himself as a life-long “service provider” and member of the editorial staff and this enabled him to produce a huge amount of outstanding work. F.C. Gundlach - the phenomenon The phenomenon that is F.C. Gundlach and his influence on German photography is however not just restricted to the field of photography. First of all he set up a service company for photographers with a laboratory, rental services and rental studios – called CC that later became PPS. After his experiences in New York he wanted to create better conditions for photographers in . In 1975 he established the PPS. Galerie, in which he exhibited the works of Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Nan Goldin and Wolfgang Tillmans for the first time in . In 1988 he became a professor at the University of the Arts in Berlin. He is still as curious as ever, as can be seen by the long list of magazines he has taken out a subscription with. Gundlach was the initiator of the Triennale der Photographie, a photography festival in Hamburg, and he is the founding father and director of the Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) which he has endowed with his own collection of about 7,000 items on permanent loan – Das Bild des Menschen in der Fotografie (The image of the human being in photography). F.C. Gundlach's commitment to photography extends way beyond the boundaries of his own work. He has done so much for German photography in so many areas that even today's younger photographers reverently refer to him as “F.C.”.