Fotografiska New York is proud to present Color Lehmitz, an exhibition of the intimate, documentary-style work by the renowned Swedish photographer Anders Petersen. Spotlighting the artist’s acclaimed series Café Lehmitz - a raw, unfettered look at late 1960s Hamburg, Germany.

The exhibition includes never-before-seen prints, contact sheets, and hand-written notes by the artist. The exhibition gives an exclusive look into his artistic process, as he sorted through, edited, and selected images during the past 50 years. 

In a neighborhood that never slept, sailors, dock workers, neighborhood residents, prostitutes, and young drifters gathered together to hold onto dear life. The café was a place of survival, where 23 years old Anders was accepted and invited to capture candid moments of the café’s regulars.

“It's a place that I absolutely don't want to romanticize, since the circumstances were anything but that. But there was still that universal togetherness and presence that is often missing from fancy parlors or properly lit break rooms. That thing that many of us are longing for, but that our culture seldom gives us the tools for, to let us really connect with each other,” says Petersen. 

Anders Petersen's first exhibition was held at Café Lehmitz in 1970, following his three-year stint documenting its nightlife, and the bartender Kurt gave his approval to pin 350 images to the wall with thumbtacks. Anyone who recognized themselves in a picture was welcome to take it down and keep it. Petersen saved a second copy of the photographs for a book, which would eventually become a revered publication giving space to society's most vulnerable, portrayed with tenderness, belonging, and honest humanity. 

The viewer can almost smell the cigarette smoke swirling in the air, hear the music blaring on the old Wurlizter, and feel the warmth emanating from bodies embracing, dancing, groping, and laughing as the sun comes up. The photographs are full of life, and Anders Petersen will forever be considered epoch-making as a master of subjective photography. This exhibition is curated by Angie Åström. 

Click on an image to open the gallery

Anders Petersen was born in Stockholm 1944. He studied at Christer Strömholm’s School of Photography (1966–68) and at Dramatiska Institutet (1973–74). He had his international breakthrough with the photo-book Café Lehmitz in 1978, which was followed by about 30 published books. Among prizes and awards can be mentioned: The Arles Photographer of the Year Award, 2003; the Jury’s Special Prize for the exhibition Exaltation of Humanity, during the third international photography festival in Lianzhou, China, 2007; the Dr. Erich Salomon Award of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie, 2008; The Arles Contemporary Book Award together with JH Engström for From Back Home, 2009. Furthermore, Petersen received Paris Photo and the Aperture Foundation Photo Book of the Year Award, 2012, for City Diary, and Lennart af Petersen’s prize, 2019. Exhibitions The Nobel Banquet through a photographer’s lens at the Nobel Prize Museum 2021, City Diary #4/5 at Stockholm City Museum 2021, City Diary #4/5 at Galerie Jean Kenta Gauthier Paris 2021, Diversity United 2021-2022 in Berlin, Paris and Moscow.

Anders Petersen’s work is represented in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art New York, Hasselblad Center Gothenburg, The Bibliothèque nationale de France Paris, Centre Pompidou Paris, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Moderna Museet Stockholm, Maison Européenne de la Photographie Paris, Museum Folkwang Essen, and Fotomuseum Winterthur, among others. He’s had both solo- and group exhibitions regularly around the world since 1969.

Exhibition
Color Lehmitz by Anders Petersen
November 11th, 2021 - March 13th, 2022

Fotografiska New York
281 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10010

Inspiring a More Conscious World
@fotografiska.ny
https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc

Fotografiska is a museum experience for the modern world. Founded in Stockholm in 2010, Fotografiska is a destination to discover world-class photography, eclectic programming, elevated dining and surprising new perspectives.

Guided by a mission to inspire a more conscious world through the power of photography, Fotografiska produces dynamic and unparalleled rotating exhibitions, spanning various photographic genres, in inclusive and immersive environments. 

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