15 Short Texts in Search of Hilla Becher

Jana Prikryl | The Nation | 22nd June 2016

Bernd and Hilla Becher, feeling “roughed up” by the war, looked for “honest” subjects. They chose heavy industrial plant, in the Ruhr and elsewhere. Notwithstanding its documentary style their photography is noted for its “melancholy force … a mourning not so much for each individual demolished object as for prewar optimism itself, all the old beliefs”. This video (7 min) provides a nice overview of their work.