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Bernd and Hilla Becher Industrial Landscapes

ISBN 0-262-02507-8
$85.00 180 Pages 140 Duotone plates

Reviewed by Chris Cobb
ldr@leonardo.org

What one sees in a photograph largely depends on one's education. The sophisticated imagery in Bernd and Hilla Becher's newest book titled 'Bernd and Hilla Becher: Industrial Landscapes,' oozes with art history. From the landscape paintings of Albert Bierstadt (who graduated from the Kunstakademie, Dusseldorf in 1857 where the Bechers have taught for decades) to the stoic and poignant images of Walker Evans, the Bechers capture a world that is both good and bad at the same time.

MIT Press's gorgeous new monograph is illustrated with 180 large images in which a studious eye can see all of 20th century photography's various movements. 'Industrial Landscapes' also refers to the 19th century landscape photographs of Carleton Watkins, J.P. Sebah, and Francis Frith. The hand of August Sander, the great German documentary photographer, can also be felt.

Shot in both Europe and America over four decades, the Bechers reveal the haunting beauty and the environmental destruction that industry creates. In this book we are confronted with the architecture of power plants, grain silos, steel mills and many hard to fathom structures. This strong selection of complex and enigmatic images tell the story of civilization's rough underbelly. The scarred land, blackened chimneys and solemn nuclear power plants are turned into song-like pictures that are densely packed with meaning. Beautiful houses are often shown with huge funnels and spouts looming over them. Cars and trains are just little specks alongside the structures. Some of the photographs are long exposures. This can be seen in the blurred reflections of buildings that shimmer on the surface of nearby rivers and lakes. 'Prince Albert Dock, Liverpool, GB 1966' is a good example. This picture shows two nearly identical buildings side by side. In the middle ground is their blurry reflection and then in the extreme foreground is a single chain that runs across the page from left to right.

This collection is especially dramatic when one considers that each image required traveling to the location, waiting for perfect lighting, getting a perfect exposure AND THEN going back home. The resulting prints appear like stories of magical places that are both familiar and yet so remote. If one pauses to consider that their whole lives have been spent doing this documentation of places, it only adds to the fascination one feels when seeing the Becher's work.

It is no accident that the Bechers are among the most influential artists of the late 20th century. Their students have included Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth who in turn have led the way for the current generation of image-makers.

This is not just a book for the coffee table, it is required viewing for students and teachers of photography at all levels. The work presented here is so complex something new will be discovered every time it gets opened.


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Updated 20th February 2003


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