Robert Lebeck: In this Country

September 8 - November 19, 2023

The exhibition "In this Country" by the German photojournalist Robert Lebeck presents a selection of his reportages from Germany from 1955 to 1983.

The photo exhibition "Hierzulande" is a photographic gem: the rebellion of a young generation in post-war Germany, East Berliners shopping on Karl-Marx-Strasse in Neukölln before the Wall was built, Kampen on the island of Sylt, which in the 1950s developed from a fishing village into a stomping ground for the rich and beautiful, the release of the last German prisoners of war in 1955 at the Herleshausen border station, and impressions of political life in the Berlin Republic.

Lebeck documents the everyday life

Lebeck photographed when people kissed, drank and danced, but also when they cried and suffered. With his charismatic gift for quiet observation, he got close to people. For Germany in March, he set out in 1983 without a destination or concrete plan - and found his motifs: exuberantly celebrating carnival revellers, a dying forest in Swabia, hunger and poverty at the port of Hamburg, an old lady scrutinising underwear on sale. With his photographs, Robert Lebeck documented the small and large scenes of everyday life and thus captured a piece of contemporary history.

It was precisely the work in Germany that challenged the photographer: "However, to extract a strong image from the everyday and the familiar requires work and the ability to abstract. Images of home are difficult." Lebeck's photographs have become part of our cultural memory - his scenes from full life have lost none of their topicality.

About Robert Lebeck

Robert Lebeck was born in Berlin on 21 March 1929 and died in his home town on 14 June 2014. As a self-taught photographer, he worked as a photo reporter for numerous journals and magazines from 1952 onwards. In 1991, the German Society for Photography (DGPh) awarded him the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize and in 2002 he received the Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography in New York. His photographs were first presented in a museum in 1962 in the Hamburg Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, numerous exhibitions followed.

At a glance

• Exhibition: Robert Lebeck: In this Country
• Location: f³ – Freiraum für Fotografie
• Start: 8 September 2023
• End: 19 November 2023
• Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 1 to 7 pm
• Admission Fee:
  5 Euro