BERLINER - SIGNS OF AWAKENING

Photographs by Siebrand Rehberg 1971-1976

 

03.10.2014 till 12.12.2014

 

Concept: Marc Barbey and Antonio Panetta

Curated by Antonio Panetta

 

The divided Berlin in the 70s, an urban landscape full of contrasts. Europe is separated in political blocs. A united Germany and a political Europe seem an utopia. The black-and-white street photographs of Siebrand Rehberg are vivid documents of a time in social and political change. The photographer succeeds to catch the everyday life of people in a very sensitive and subtle way – especially in his district of Kreuzberg. The photographers Fritz Eschen or Friedrich Seidenstücker are key role models for him. Rehberg, born 1943, worked for the newspaper Zeit, Zeit-Magazin and Spiegel and was not only focusing on the significant political life and its staging but also on the real life of the Berliners who don’t make history. Pupil of the Werkstatt für Fotografie of Michael Schmidt, Siebrand Rehberg offers these Berliners a memento. Long before the wind of change and beyond utopia.

 

Extracts of the catalog "Signs of awakening", published by Nicolai Verlag, author Erik Steffen:

“The photographer has enshrined it all, while signals of a social upheaval smolder. Rehberg succeeds in capturing moments of great intensity in the familiar movements around the familiar sites of his chosen neighborhood, Kreuzberg. Images of people and their living conditions, of joie de vivre and self-assertion in an inhospitable environment.”

“Rehberg always presents the rise of new social movements indirectly, because his main interest is in the people themselves. He encounters them with respect and curiosity, allowing them to retain their dignity.”

 

About the photographer Siebrand Rehberg:

Siebrand Rehberg, born in 1943 in Aurich / Ostfriesland, did his apprenticeship as a photographer from 1971 to 1973 at the Lette Verein in Berlin. Rehberg lives and works in Berlin since then, the city that so fascinated him that he turning to photography. Since 1976 he has been working as a freelance photographer and was at the same time until 2008 scientific photographer at the TU Berlin. Siebrand Rehberg has worked as a photojournalist for many print media. He is still works as a contract photographer for Berlin companies.

 

The collector Marc Barbey:
“I have rarely seen pictures of the Berliners in the seventies of such a quality. You could almost say with a chuckle: “They are all there!” The fact that the focus was made on the people and the district of Kreuzberg makes it extremely interesting and exciting. Siebrand Rehberg’s street photographs have convinced me at once because he succeeded to catch a wide branch of the society of Kreuzberg in an impressive and sensitive manner. With strong photographic skills he offers us a wonderful body of work with people of all classes, from West and East Berlin. This is why this exhibition is called: Berliner. It is dedicated to the people of this city. This work has never been shown before and I am glad to contribute to popularize it. Furthermore I am hoping that more institutions will recognize the high quality of these documents to present it to a wider audience. Some motives of Rehberg could become photographic icons."