Guido Mangold
The World through my eyes
"Was Cartier-Bresson für Frankreich, Robert Capa und Walker Evans für Amerika waren, ist Guido Mangold für Deutschland." (kunst:art, Juli-August 2016)
Retrospective
Waiting for the Queen, John F. Kennedy at Checkpoint Charlie, Uschi Obermaier on the beach in Africa. The shots from the prestigious magazine and landscape photographer Guido Mangold went around the world and continue to shape the collective memory of the Germans. This retrospective offers a glance into more than 50 years of Guido Mangold’s work from the 1950s to the 1990s.
“A good photo is the one that tells a story.”
School of Otto Steiner
Never before seen photograms from Guido Mangold’s time at the university act as a prelude to the both thematically and chronologically structured presentation, encompassing almost 100 photographs. They point to Mangold’s experimental beginnings: from 1957 to 1960 he was a student of the photographer Otto Steiner at the University of Art and Design Saarland (Werkkunstschule Saarbrücken) and studied at the renowned Folkwang School in Essen, among others. Inspired by his teacher Otto Steiner and the tradition of modernism, Mangold first reduced reality to graphical structures using analogue black and white photography.
Impressive landscapes and cityscapes are created such as the Children’s graves in the Camargue or pictures of the market halls of Paris, which are characterized by a strict Steiner style and, furthermore, already demonstrate Mangold’s eye for the extraordinary. “One can only take a good photograph if he is able to detect the atmospheric moment,” explains Mangold. Thus, Mangold’s photographs reflect not only the events but also the attitude and empathy of people.
Documentary of German Post War History
In the 1960s, Mangold turned to portrait photography. Under the slogan "turn the insight out" (Mangold) he is able to capture imposing, surprisingly intimate snapshots from the world of politics and show business such as the photographs of Konrad Adenauer or Louis Armstrong. For the latter, Mangold was awarded the World Press Photo Award and made German photographic history. He achieved his international breakthrough as a photojournalist in 1963 with a documentary on the visit of John F. Kennedy in Germany.
On behalf of magazines such as twen, Stern or Geo he captured contemporary history such as the funeral of Kennedy, the state visit of Queen Elizabeth or a Beatles concert exclusively in analogue black and white photography.
"Digital photography went right past me. I am an analogue grandpa."
Reportage and color photography
With the advent of colour photography, the topics of the pictures changed for Mangold as well. Landscapes and travel reports such as on the mountain farmers in Tyrol gained importance in the 1970s.
"Good photography is almost always hard work and, if it succeeds, it has something to do with obsession and discipline."
Art scene at the time
Besides travel documentaries and life photography Mangold has also repeatedly portrayed artists and artistic processes. The curated show presented by Nicole Fritz and in close collaboration with Mangold, depicts how his work has an immense and on-going impact on photographers to this day.
| Objects | 89 photographs, including white wooden frames |
| Audioguides | 16 stories behind the pictures |
| Catalogue | Mangold, Guido. Fotographien. 1958 bis heute. |
| Presentation area | 500 sqm |