Exhibition: Brodmann in Braunschweig

Christina/ January 13, 2025/ Culture

Currently, a double exhibition is running in Braunschweig. On one hand, there is “Brodmann Classic” at the Museum Hinter Aegidien. On the other hand, “Brodmann Worldwide” is being shown at the Municipal Museum on Löwenwall. I decided to visit the Braunschweig version with a guided tour on this cold Sunday, and it was a good choice, because Brodmann himself is present today.

After surviving the largely event-free period between the holidays and the beginning of 2025, I can finally dive back into cultural life. It’s a Sunday afternoon, and outside the temperatures are freezing. A good time, therefore, to go to the museum. Around 3 p.m., a few interested citizens have gathered at the “Klostermuseum” in Braunschweig to be guided through a retrospective of Brodmann’s work.

Historian Margot Ruhlender guides us through Brodmann’s oeuvre for almost an hour. First, we head to the upper floor of the building. We begin with the artist’s early years. We learn that family connections led Brodmann to choose a career in photography at an early age. Born in Hohne near Celle, his career initially took him to Köhler and Lippmann, a geographical art institution, as it was called in the terminology of the time. Today, we would refer to it as an advertising agency.

“I prefer the Negroes”
After some private photographs, we get to the heart of the matter. It’s about the 1968 protests against the U.S. war in Vietnam. Demonstrations also took place in Braunschweig, which, according to Ruhlender, were closely observed with skeptical eyes by the older population. Phrases like “I prefer the Negroes” are said to have been uttered at the time.

Character Morally Decayed
Other political documentary photographs show Willy Brandt and Herbert Wehner at an event in Braunschweig in 1970. It is important to know that the relationship between the dandy Brandt and the conservative Wehner was far from harmonious. Wehner is said to have described his party colleague as “morally decayed.” Ruhlender confirms that Brandt found Wehner to be too fickle.

Genschern
We stay in the political realm with the next set of photos, this time focusing on the relationship between three political parties: the CDU, SPD, and FDP. What Christian Lindner is for the FDP today, Hans-Dietrich Genscher was at the time. The term “Genschern” is said to have originated from Genscher’s policy of shifting alliances, named after a card game called “Doppelkopf.”

Panoramic Photography
We leave the political stage and move into the section of the exhibition that focuses on Brodmann’s work: panoramic photography. According to legend, the artist first encountered the subject through a colleague. This colleague had brought a photograph from the GDR, which significantly influenced the photographer’s interest. The impressive image had been taken with a Soviet camera called “Horizont.” Later, Brodmann switched to a Widelux camera and now takes his photos digitally.
A fun fact: American actor Jeff Bridges is said to have photographed with a Widelux as a child and is planning a revival of the camera brand.

Braunschweig’s B-Side
Now we move on to Braunschweig. Brodmann is said to have been bothered by the fact that the city was primarily associated with Heinrich the Lion. Therefore, the photographer chose to capture the lesser-known corners of Braunschweig, the so-called B-sides, in his images. For instance, he found interesting subjects in the Siegfriedviertel district and in the ruins of the Wilke-Werke factory.
Brodmann himself says the following about this: When the Museum of Photography was established in Braunschweig, he began taking photographs of the city. However, he did not want to portray the lion statue and chose less well-known parts of the city for his work. In doing so, he discovered new (B-) sides of Braunschweig for himself.

Corona and Labor Migration
The last two stations on the first floor focus on two more recent topics: essential workers during the Corona period and labor migration in 2012. Ruhlender shares an anecdote, which I later hear from Brodmann himself, about how he had to wait two years for permission to photograph a worker at the Salzgitter AG company. His connections to a member of the works council eventually opened the doors for him.
Brodmann photographed migrant workers from Iraq, China, and Eritrea, both in their professional and private environments. Among other things, a family from Eritrea, who migrated to Sickte and still lives there today, is featured. At this point, Ruhlender points out the title design of the exhibition. “Trigger” is a double entendre. It not only refers to the act of pressing the camera button to take a shot, but also to what the photo evokes in the viewer.

Photography is Aesthetics
Finally, we head to the basement. Here, in addition to a three-minute film about the artist, Brodmann’s “Baroque Still Life à la Netherlands” can be seen. Later, when I unexpectedly join Brodmann himself for a tour of the exhibition, I hear him explain how he got into flower photography.
After purchasing a house in Wolfenbüttel, Brodmann found himself without enough time to take his usual photographs on location. As a result, he began working with floral arrangements due to the limited time available. This means that the photos shown here are not snapshots; they are staged. Allegedly, flowers are placed on black cardboard, a glass pane is placed over them, and the photo is taken from below through the glass. This sounds interesting.
Now that I have the combo ticket, I will, of course, make sure to visit the second part of the exhibition at the Municipal Museum. Maybe next Sunday.

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