Emmy Andriesse
Euge'ne Atget Brassai
Robert Doisneau
Ed van der Elsken
Seiichi Furuya
Jitka Hanzlova'
Craigie Horsfield
Sune Jonsson
Andre' Kerte'sz
Chris Killip
Viktor Kolar
Boris Mikhailov
Anders Petersen
Henryk Ross
Inta Ruka
Michael Schmidt
Christer Stromholm
Josef Sudek
Wolfgang Tillmans
S. I. Witkiewicz
European Photographers in the 20th Century
European Photographers in the 20th Century
Emmy Andriesse, Euge'ne Atget, Brassai, Robert Doisneau, Ed van der Elsken, Seiichi
Furuya, Jitka Hanzlova', Craigie Horsfield, Sune Jonsson, Andre' Kerte'sz, Chris
Killip, Viktor Kolar, Boris Mikhailov, Anders Petersen, Henryk Ross, Inta Ruka,
Michael Schmidt, Christer Stromholm, Josef Sudek, Wolfgang Tillmans,
S. I. Witkiewicz.
From the First World War to the Cold War, the sexual revolution to the Velvet
Revolution, communism to capitalism, the 20th Century was marked by sweeping
historical events and changes. In the Face of History brings together the work of
many of the greatest photographers of this period, whose works collectively map out
a century of European experience.
One of the first major exhibitions to chart European photography from 1900 to the
present day, In the Face of History features classic photographers such as Euge'ne
Atget, Josef Sudek and Brassai , alongside contemporary artists such as Boris
Mikhailov, Jitka Hanzlova' and Wolfgang Tillmans. The exhibition also includes a
number of photographers from the former Eastern bloc, with many works shown in the
UK for the first time.
All of the photographers are distinguished by a closeness to their subject matter,
sometimes depicting these subjects during times of great conflict. Andre' Kerte'sz
documented the realities of a soldier's life while serving in the Austro Hungarian
army in the Great War. Henryk Ross, meanwhile, is represented by a series of
shocking images which he took in secret while imprisoned in the Lodz ghetto in
Poland during World War Two.
Other photographers depict subtler currents of social and cultural change. Christer
Stromholm lived amongst, and documented, a community of transsexuals in Paris in the
1960s. Annelies Strba shows photographs of her children's lives taken over a thirty
year period.
In the Face of History contains many powerful works, images distinguished by the
emotional bond between photographer and subject, and offers a unique perspective on
a century, as seen through the eyes of some of Europe's greatest photographers.
Barbican Art Gallery
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