Umbo, a great German photographer
2020 | Photos: Andreas Berns Kartes | Text: Markus Hilzinger
The human photographer Umbo, the short form Otto Umbehr was one of the avant-garde of the 1920s, which are shown in a retrospective of the Berlin gallery.
Umbo the Bauhaus student actually wanted to be a painter. He is considered the inventor of the image of the New Woman, the new image of the city street and also the photo reportage.
The exhibition is devoted to three selected life chapters of the artist.
There are the 20's keen to experiment, especially in Berlin, the resurgence after 1945 in his adopted home of Hanover, and of the people who come back to life in the ruins after the gray everyday life.
Umbo lost his studio due to bombing during the Nazi era.
His works impressively show black and white photographs in hard light, shadow contrasts in unusual perspectives and a new photographic aesthetic.
The exhibition with 200 selected motifs is a must for anyone interested in photography. Really worth seeing and recommended.