A carnival reveler at a village party on Weiberfastnacht in Stommeln near Cologne. Germany. 2013. © Olivia Arthur/Magnum Photos/FOCUS
Friday the 13th may have been a bad day for some, but for the folk attending the opening of the FotoFestival, it was a very, very good day.
Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg are probably not your first choice when thinking of suitable locations for a highly regarded international photo fair, but that is where you’d be wrong. Located on the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region, The FotoFestival, is one of Europe’s leading contemporary photography festivals, celebrating both the art form and the people behind the camera, and is increasingly catching the photography-lover’s eye.
Taking place every two years, FotoFestival is now celebrating its 10th anniversary in a big way, by inviting the mighty Magnum Photos to be its artistic partner, in the exhibition “Grenzgänge. Magnum: Trans-Territories”. Made up of approximately 1,300 works by a total of 76 photographers from 27 countries, a Magnum exhibition of this size is a well deserved success for any curator handling this mammoth body of work, and one which curator Andréa Holzherr brings together with an impeccable eye for the finer detail.
The FotoFestival itself is spread over seven different institutions of the region, such as the Kunsthalle Mannheim, Stadtgalerie Mannheim, the Wilhelm-Hack Museum, Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, and the Heidelbeger Kunstverein. Each one of these participating institutions are carefully picked to handle a theme and discussion point from Magnum’s archives: “Battleground/Afghanistan”, “Community”, “Uprooted/Exil”, “No Place like Home”, “Deutschlandreise”, “Locked up”, “Insight Out”, and “Liu Jie: Migrant Nation”.
In every location, an abundance of renowned and important documentary photographers works, appear to stare you right in the face, not once breaking contact. From Steve McCurry’s stark imagery of the war in Afghanistan, to Jim Goldberg’s and Bruce Davidson’s communities, to newcomer Liu Jie’s personal Migrant Nation series, to the Auslanders road trips around Germany; the Festival is an overwhelming display of the importance of documentary photography, both in the realm of journalism and in real life.
Inside Ludwigshafen’s Wilhelm-Hack Museum, in the “No Place Like Home/Zuhause” section of the festival, and arguably the most accessible in terms of content and contemporary photography, you are immediately struck with a giant, overbearing wall plastered with British photographer Martin Parr’s colourful and iconic work on what is a “home”. As you continue to snake around this part of the festival, it shows Magnum’s other side to documentary: a tender, sometimes humorous side, that shows the light-hearted side of life.
Here, Sleek got the opportunity to speak to Magnum photographer Harry Gruyaert, whose work is normally a celebration of colour and composition, surprised everyone by showing a 15 minute project on his daughters, made entirely of black and white stills. “Black and white to me is much more simple, it is not as complex. If I do colour it is much more complex, I have to think about the light, how people are dressed, the background, and all kinds of things. ” Gruyaert continued to speak about the project, and what was the important aspect when shooting this project. “In black and white you go more direct to the people, and in this case it is my daughters that are the most important, so I did them in black and white. Which is very rare for me.”
While the seven locations in three towns might make this festival sound a little bit too long for the average gallery Saturday afternoon, curator Andréa Holzherr has made sure that each location can be seen as part of the much bigger festival or acting alone, as its own standalone exhibition. The fact that the main sponsor, BASF, is a local to the Ludwigshafen area is reflected in the workshops and talks that run throughout the entire duration of the festival, encouraging outsiders to become welcome guests in each of the seven locations.
“Grenzgänge. Magnum: Trans – Territories” is a powerful display of the weight of Magnum Photos, past, present, and for the future of documentary photography.
Until November 10th 2013
See the FotoFestival website for upcoming events and workshops