Keld Helmer-Petersen
Encyclopedia
Keld Helmer-Petersen is a Danish
photographer who achieved his international breakthrough in 1948 when he published 122 Farvefotografier/122 Colour Photographs, a collection of experiments with shapes inspired by Albert Renger-Patzsch
and the poetic realism of the Neue Sachlichkeit movement. The book brought modernism
to Danish photography and earned Helmer-Petersen a grant for a year's study at the Art Institute of Chicago
in 1950. As a result, photography became his profession. In his Chicago
series published in Fragments of a City, Helmer-Petersen became form's uncompromising proponent. He later developed interest in hidden figurative expression as in his series Deformationer (1976–84) and Frihavnen (1989).
.
In Fragments of a City, he explained he had been inspired by the German Neue Sachlichkeit movement, especially its concern for industry's new machines and architecture's characteristic new elements.
Following the publication of his book, he worked for a short period for Life
before returning to Copenhagen
to concentrate on his architectural photography. There he photographed silhouettes of overhead cables, fire escapes and construction cranes against grey skies, producing a black-and-white effect. Or, in sharp sunlight, he would shoot full-frontal views of the facades of timbered houses and sheds in industrial plants, making them look like architectural drawings.
In the mid-1960s, Helmer-Petersen — more than any other photographer — adapted the evolving trend of intellectual structuralism
to the art of photography. The result was his exhibition Structurer (1965) with pictures of leafless tree braches set against a light grey winter sky or patterns created by partially snow-covered ice-floes on Copenhagen's lakes. Some of the photographs were enlarged so much that they bordered on abstraction while presenting a microcosm of nature's material structures.
Helmer-Petersen became the architects' photographer. From 1964 until 1990 he was lector in photography and form at the Royal Academy's School of Architecture while he continued to act as an architectural photographer for contemporaries such as Finn Juhl
, Jørgen Bo, Jørn Utzon
and Poul Kjærholm.
Today his work is held by a number of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art
in New York
. His contribution to the development of colour photography is ever more widely recognised by the art world.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
photographer who achieved his international breakthrough in 1948 when he published 122 Farvefotografier/122 Colour Photographs, a collection of experiments with shapes inspired by Albert Renger-Patzsch
Albert Renger-Patzsch
Albert Renger-Patzsch was a German photographer associated with the New Objectivity.Renger-Patzsch was born in Würzburg and began making photographs by age twelve. After military service in the First World War he studied chemistry at Dresden Technical College...
and the poetic realism of the Neue Sachlichkeit movement. The book brought modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
to Danish photography and earned Helmer-Petersen a grant for a year's study at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
in 1950. As a result, photography became his profession. In his Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
series published in Fragments of a City, Helmer-Petersen became form's uncompromising proponent. He later developed interest in hidden figurative expression as in his series Deformationer (1976–84) and Frihavnen (1989).
Professional career
Helmer-Petersen's career took off in 1948 with his 122 Colour Photographs. His aim was to make pictures that would only work in colour, and not in black and white. This he achieved by concentrating on the mundane and the everyday. Thanks to the grant he received from the Art Institute of Photography he was able to study for a year under Harry Callahan and Aaron SiskindAaron Siskind
Aaron Siskind was an American abstract expressionist photographer. In his biography he wrote that he began his foray into photography when he received a camera for a wedding gift and began taking pictures on his honeymoon. He quickly realized the artistic potential this offered...
.
In Fragments of a City, he explained he had been inspired by the German Neue Sachlichkeit movement, especially its concern for industry's new machines and architecture's characteristic new elements.
Following the publication of his book, he worked for a short period for Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
before returning to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
to concentrate on his architectural photography. There he photographed silhouettes of overhead cables, fire escapes and construction cranes against grey skies, producing a black-and-white effect. Or, in sharp sunlight, he would shoot full-frontal views of the facades of timbered houses and sheds in industrial plants, making them look like architectural drawings.
In the mid-1960s, Helmer-Petersen — more than any other photographer — adapted the evolving trend of intellectual structuralism
Structuralism
Structuralism originated in the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague and Moscow schools of linguistics. Just as structural linguistics was facing serious challenges from the likes of Noam Chomsky and thus fading in importance in linguistics, structuralism...
to the art of photography. The result was his exhibition Structurer (1965) with pictures of leafless tree braches set against a light grey winter sky or patterns created by partially snow-covered ice-floes on Copenhagen's lakes. Some of the photographs were enlarged so much that they bordered on abstraction while presenting a microcosm of nature's material structures.
Helmer-Petersen became the architects' photographer. From 1964 until 1990 he was lector in photography and form at the Royal Academy's School of Architecture while he continued to act as an architectural photographer for contemporaries such as Finn Juhl
Finn Juhl
Finn Juhl was a Danish architect, interior and industrial designer, most known for his furniture design. He was one of the leading figures in the creation of "Danish design" in the 1940s and he was the designer who introduced Danish Modern to America.-Early life and education:Finn Juhl was born on...
, Jørgen Bo, Jørn Utzon
Jørn Utzon
Jørn Oberg Utzon, , AC was a Danish architect, most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzon became only the second person to have received such recognition for one of his works during his lifetime...
and Poul Kjærholm.
Today his work is held by a number of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. His contribution to the development of colour photography is ever more widely recognised by the art world.
Awards
- Thorvald Bindesbøll Medal (1981)
- Nationalbankens Jubilæumsfonds hæderslegat (1996)
- Fogtdal Photographers AwardFogtdal Photographers AwardThe Fogtdal Photographers Awards is the largest awards programme dedicated specifically to Danish photography. It was established in 2004 by Danish publisher Per Fogtdal. The awards programme consists of an Honarary Award, rewarded with DKK 250,000, and five other awards, each rewarded with a...
(2005)
Exhibitions
- Keld Helmer-Petersen, Galleri Weinberger, Copenhagen (2009)
- Winter Graphics, Rocket Gallery, London (2008)
- 1945–1995, Rocket Gallery, London (2006)
- Les Rencontres d'Arles, France (2005)
- De tidlige år, Fotografisk Center, Copenhagen (2005)
- Retrospektivt, Fotografisk Center, Copenhagen (2004)
- Strukturer, Ole Palsby Galleri, Copenhagen (1965)
See also
- Photography in DenmarkPhotography in DenmarkPhotography in Denmark has developed from strong participation and interest in the very beginnings of the art in 1839 to the success of a considerable number of Danes in the world of photography today...
- History of photographyHistory of photographyThe first permanent photograph was an image produced in 1826 by the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.- Etymology :The word photography derives from the Greek words phōs light, and gráphein, to write...