Gerd Sander accompanied the institutional and programmatic work, which, in accordance with the factual documentary and artistic-conceptual photography with exhibitions and publications, is based in particular on the work of August Sander, as chairman of the advisory board of the Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur until 2008. Various touring exhibitions and publications on the work of August Sander were made possible through his collaboration. A groundbreaking project from 1994 onwards was "August Sander: In Photography there are no unexplained shadows!" with a publication and an international exhibition tour. Influential in 2000 was the extensive exhibition "Contemporaries. August Sander and the Art Scene of the 1920s in the Rhineland" at the Josef Haubrich Art Gallery in Cologne. Last but not least, the seven-volume edition of "Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts" (People of the 20th Century) with an accompanying study volume (2001) on the work of August Sander, published together with Susanne Lange and Gabriele Conrath-Scholl, is of great importance.
Gerd Sander, who trained as a photographer and later worked as a gallery owner and art dealer, has also built essential bridges to artistic works exhibited at the local foundation. These include works by Marcel Broodthears, William Christenberry and Rosalind Solomon. With his work, Gerd Sander laid one of the important foundations for the fact that his grandfather's oeuvre is today reappraised according to scientific museum criteria, contextualised from various perspectives and continues to be presented to the world public.
