Hilla Becher

Hilla Becher
Born	Hilla Wobeser (1934-09-02)2 September 1934 Potsdam, Germany
Died	10 October 2015(2015-10-10) (aged 81) Düsseldorf, Germany
Nationality	German
Education	Vocational School
Known for	Conceptual Photography
Notable work	Framework Houses
Movement	Typographic
Spouse(s)	Bernd Becher

Hilla Becher (née Wobeser; 2 September 1934 – 10 October 2015) was a conceptual photographer born in Potsdam, East Germany.^[1] Becher was well known for her industrial photographs, with longtime collaborator Bernd Becher.^[2]

Life

Hilla Becher was exposed to photography early in life. Her mother attended Lette-Haus, a photography school for women, and occasionally worked in a studio, retouching photographs. Her father was a high school language teacher, later drafted to World War II. During that war the Becher family moved throughout Germany, eventually settling in Potsdam in 1945. Becher began photographing at the age of twelve with a 9×12 cm plate-camera. Becher photographed her teachers in high school, printed and sold them at postcard size for the teachers. She was expelled from high school and became an intern for Walter Eichgrun, a working studio and commissioned photographer, in 1951, while studying photography at a vocational school and finishing her high school degree in Berlin. She spent several years working on commission with Eichgrun and did various solo assignments. She was offered a job, in Düsseldorf, Germany as an advertising photographer and around 1958 she enrolled into the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Walter Breker studying graphic and printing techniques. She is known to be the first student who exclusively delivered photography as work samples.^[3] While enrolled in the academy she met future husband and collaborator, Bernd Becher.^[1] In 1963 Hilla and Bernd Becher had their first solo exhibition in Galerie Ruth Nohl in Siegen, Germany.^[4]

Hilla is credited for aiding in the start and structuring of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf’s Photography department.^[1] She died in Düsseldorf on 10 October 2015.^[5][6]

Work

Hilla photographed with an 8×10 large format camera and processed her negatives by hand. After 50 years of photography the Bechers developed a distinguishable stylistic aesthetic. Over the years Hilla and Bernd Becher have had conflicting photographic approaches towards their subjects. Hilla wanted the subject to be photographed with its surroundings, while Bernd wanted the subject to be the only focal point. Becher’s photographs are studies of industrial architecture and landscapes,^[1] the composition of the photograph forces the viewer to examine the structure.^[2] The photographs were captured during overcast skies early in the morning, to remove shadows and convey as many details as possible. When displayed, the images are often grouped in a grid pattern by subject or as diptychs.^[7]

Hilla and Bernd Becher’s works include: Framework Houses, 1959–1973;^[8] Water Towers, 1963–1993; Fforchaman Colliery, Rhondda Valley, South Wales, United Kingdom, 1966; Winding Towers, 1966–1997; Knutange, Lorraine, France, 1971; Hanover Mine 1/2/5, Bochum-Hordel, Ruhr Region…, 1973; Coal Mine, Bear Valley, Schuylkill County… 1974; Consolidation Mine, Gelsenkirchen, Ruhr Region; Coal Tipple, Goodspring, Pennsylvania, 1975; and Water Towers, 1988.^[8]

Awards

• 1966: British Council grant of E360 to photograph mines in Nottinghamshire and south Wales.^[1]
• 2002: Erasmus Prize from the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation, Netherlands, for her contribution to the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.^[4]

References