Dr. Paul Wolff

Vintage Photographs

EXHIBITION May 25 — Sep 19, 2002

The exhibition at Kicken II assembles a selection of 30 exceptional vintage prints by Dr. Paul Wolff (1887 Mulhouse - 1951 Frankfurt on Main) from the 1930s. Wolff started out by studying medicine, planning to become a doctor. In 1920, while exercising his profession, he came into contact with photography, and in 1926 was fortunate enough to win a Leica at a photographic exhibition in Frankfurt. Wolff became a pacesetter for 35mm photography in the realms of professional photography and photojournalism. He illustrated numerous books and wrote theoretical discourses on the use of the 35mm format. In doing so, he helped to make this format so popular for serious applications. In 1930 photography became his second profession. He taught many students how best to use a Leica, gave instructions on new perspectives and viewing angles, and in 1934 published his experiences in a book entitled My Experiences with the Leica.
Until recently, Wolff, who never specialized in a topic or concept, but who took pictures of everything he found interesting and suitable, has been mainly regarded a theoretician , technician, and image designer of photohistorical importance. But now the art world discovers the high quality of his photographs and begins to recognize him as one of the most interesting German photographers of the 1930s and 40s.
The exhibition at Kicken Berlin assembles a selection of 30 exceptional vintage prints by Wolff from the 1930s.

At Kicken I, the gallery is showing a selection of works by Richard Pare (*1948). Perhaps the fact that Pare is a photographer of architecture rather than an architectural photographer explains both his approach to his work and the character of images presented in this exhibition: Through his medium Pare attempts to communicate the way buildings can be sensed or experienced, rather then as they are seen. Kicken Berlin shows a selection of Pare's photographs of architecture in Japan, Egypt, Russia, and Italy dated between 1982 and 2000.