The Association for the Foundation and Promotion of a German Institute of Photography e. V.

An institute for photography

No other medium permeates our everyday lives as much as photography. It is a technique, an art form and a social practice with diverse manifestations. The German Institute of Photography aims to be a public space dedicated to the past, present and future of photography in its analogue, digital and hybrid forms. Its vision is to both comprehensively promote the discussion of pressing issues within the field of photography and its medial contexts between players from the fields of art, science and business while engaging in dialogue with a global public. Centralised institutions dedicated exclusively to the medium of photography and the particular challenges it presents have long existed in countries such as France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the USA. These institutions take on educational duties, they work in cooperation with educational and cultural institutions, they research, collect, restore and in doing so work sustainably while preserving for the future. An institution of this kind is lacking in Germany. While institutions and collections that excel in art history, theory and interdisciplinary work do exist, what the future requires is an aggregator capable of consolidating presentation and education, research, collection and preservation of photography as a cultural asset with the necessary resources and facilities, as well as connecting and supporting the relevant parties to make a significant contribution to necessary advancements. The German Institute of Photography intends to fill this void left by the current network of mostly individually operating, federally organised photography collections and archives ensuring that the challenges presented by an increasingly complex medium can be met on the cutting edge.

From artist initiative to conception

The idea behind an Institute for Photography (DFI) was born of an initiative by photographic artists. They face a variety of ongoing challenges posed by the transition from analogue to digital, the complex relationships between creativity and technology, and the sustainable handling of their material and archives, all of which continuously require innovative solutions. Inspired by these issues, the artists Andreas Gursky, Stefan Hostettler and Moritz Wegwerth have compiled a collection of central themes and questions with the aim of providing a framework for discussion. The first concept was developed in early 2019 under the working title "German Centre of Photography" in close collaboration with fellow artists, experts and key figures from the field of photography. Together with additional advocates, they founded the "Association for the Foundation and Promotion of a German Institute of Photography e. V." soon afterwards, the aim being to promote the idea of an international centre of excellence geared towards the public. The initial members and supporters included Jen DeNike, Roe Ethridge, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Ralf Hütter, Peter Piller, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Wall, Christopher Williams among many others.

Concept (PDF), as at May 2020

The materiality of photography

Photography is a global medium whose history has been shaped by regional constellations. Alongside countries such as France, England, Japan and the USA, Germany, as the centre of optical, chemical and photomechanical industries, played an instrumental role in the medium's development. Major photographers have worked here, built up collections here and undertaken important research here. As a result, Germany is home to a large number of institutions with outstanding photographic collections. Nevertheless, a place where the materiality of photographic images is at the forefront alongside content and motif is still lacking. Every photograph has a history, a provenance, a context – every image also has a flip-side that contains important information. Photography is closely linked to the technical conditions of its time, to industrially developed materials and processes. Therefore, a place where knowledge and practice and where both sides of the image take centre stage is required.

Operating in a network

An open and interdisciplinary approach is a fundamental principle of the institute. Central to achieving this is close collaboration with existing institutions. The institute does not consider itself as a stand-alone entity, but as an aggregator in an international network. Therefore, during the development phase, the DFI has already begun cooperating with archives, museums, universities, foundations and collections. The questions that are being negotiated concern us all: what is photography, what can it do and what does it effect? How can photography be preserved for posterity? How can knowledge about artistic and technical processes – and the images themselves – be made permanently accessible to the public? The DFI intends to provide answers to these questions. For example, by formulating guidelines and standards for the professional and sustainable preservation of photographic materials. The German Institute of Photography will have a physical location and at the same time be a digital platform. The new institution's concept deliberately avoids drawing a line between digital and analogue, between artistic, applied and so-called amateur photography. In short, the DFI is concerned with photography as a cultural field in all its manifestations. The scale of the challenge is in no small part due to the enormous success of the medium. Photography has, for decades, not only determined how we perceive the world, but it is also increasingly determining how we remember the past. This shapes our perception of history and our understanding of the present.

Location

As decided by the council of the state capital, the new DFI building will be located at the intersection of Hofgarten and Ehrenhof, on the site at Inselstraße 36a. The expressionist architectural complex Ehrenhof is located in the city centre and is surrounded by art and cultural institutions such as the Kunstpalast, NRW Forum, Tonhalle, Staatliche Kunstakademie and Kunstsammlung NRW. The importance of a landscape of complementary institutions can be recognised by this present-day Düsseldorf as a city of photography. The municipal centre for restoration has been located in the immediate vicinity of the planned DFI site since 1976. It was established in order to combine expertise in the preservation and restoration of photographs equally with the other artistic media. Today, museums and archives holding a total of 3.5 million objects have access to the specialised workshops and expertise of the photography restorer. Düsseldorf's concentration of artistic, academic and technical expertise in the field of photography is unrivalled. The large format images that are produced here by Düsseldorf photographers would be inconceivable without the infrastructure of specialised businesses catering to the demand of commercial photography. Among these are photography laboratories and international film and camera manufacturers that are based in Düsseldorf or have branches in the city. The material requirements of the photographic practice will also play an important role at the DFI. This relates to the preservation of images, but to techniques in photographic processes and the development of new technologies, too. The DFI, as a representative of the artists, aims to enter into a dialogue with producers. The objective will always be the sustainable use of photography.

The DFI e. V. and its cooperating partners

In addition to its collaboration with the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie, the DFI e. V. has forged a number of other alliances. These alliances serve to enrich the development of the new institution by combining their respective practices and expertise with the DFI. For example, the Boijmans Van Beuningen Depot in Rotterdam fully opened its collection to the public in the form of a “display depot” in 2021, thereby demonstrating a transparent approach to its own collection, while the Fondation Herzog in Basel provides an example of how photography can be understood as a historical force and contemporary witness. Since the 1970s, the Swiss couple Peter and Ruth Herzog have amassed one of the most important private photography collections in the world. Containing over 300,000 images, it tells a story of people living in industrial societies since 1839, a large proportion are amateur photographs that are currently being analysed and archived in Basel. The Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur is a further key partner for the DFI e.V. and the state capital. Founded in 1992 and based in Cologne, the institution houses approximately 40,000 photographs, including the August Sander Archive containing the world's largest collection of original prints and preserved glass negatives, and the archive of Bernd and Hilla Becher.

News

At a joint press conference on 18 September 2023, the State Minister for Culture Claudia Roth, the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister for Culture and Science Ina Brandes and the Mayor of Düsseldorf Dr Stephan Keller presented the Founding Committee for the Deutsches Fotoinstitut. The team of seven comprises a broad range of photographic expertise and will define the main objectives for the future institute of photography.