Founded in 1981 by the four photographers Günter Beer, Jürgen Bindrim, Manfred Linke, and Guenay Ulutuncok in Cologne’s South, laif is regarded as one of Germany’s most renowned agencies for photojournalism. To mark its 40th anniversary, the exhibition “Forty Years of laif – Forty Positions in Documentary Photography” is showing at the Museum of Applied Arts Cologne from 12 March to 25 September 2022.
The photographers selected by curator Peter Bialobrzeski, Peter Bitzer, and Manfred Linke illustrate the world with its conflicts and fault lines, but also show how art and solidarity can connect people. Furthermore, the works reflect the aesthetic development of documentary photography from the 1980s to the present and bring to life 40 years of contemporary history.
Each position is dedicated to a year between laif’s founding in 1981 and today. They were either taken, prominently published, or received an important award in the year in question. These images not only represent the agency’s values, but also illustrate the diversity and evolvement of documentary and journalistic photography from 1981 to 2021.
The show includes photo series by:
Parallel to the exhibition, the museum’s cinematic programme CineMAKK will be showing films by or about laif photographers on every first Thursday of the month. The selection features contributions by David Klammer, documentaries on works by Peter Bialobrzeski, Bettina Flitner, and Wolfgang Volz.
Our thanks go to our sponsors and partners:
The Museum of Applied Arts Cologne, the Lempertz Auction House, Ströer, the Kulturwerk Foundation of the VG Bild-Kunst , Neustart Kultur, and especially to WhiteWall for the production of the exhibition prints.
