Berlin Photo Week makes its big comeback this summer – kicking off its third edition on 26 August 2021. The central location will be Arena Berlin, located directly on the Spree River. This versatile venue has long been a beloved location for art fairs, concerts, summer festivals, and more.
Berlin Photo Week also features a revised concept this year. Its merger with Messe Berlin and new strategy was announced in autumn 2020: ”With a unique concept – combining photography, video, and art with the latest innovations from the imaging industry – Berlin Photo Week brings together creatives, artists, imaging professionals, photo enthusiasts, and celebrities with media companies, leading brands in the imaging industry, and many other brands who appreciate compelling images as an important element of their corporate identity,” says Jens Heithecker, Executive Vice President Messe Berlin Group; IFA Executive Director.
This year, the public can once again look forward to numerous top-class exhibitions, exciting talks, and expert discussions on contemporary photography – as well as the popular Funplace, where visitors can discover leading brands such as Panasonic, Leica, WhiteWall, etc. and participate in special interactive brand experiences.
One of the exhibition highlights is the exclusive presentation of work by iconic American-Russian photographer, George Hoyningen-Huene, who helped shape international fashion and portrait photography in the early 1920s and 1930s and worked for renowned magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar. On the initiative of Benjamin Jäger, art director of Berlin Photo Week, and with the kind permission of the George Hoyningen-Huene Estate Archives, an exquisite selection of iconic photographs will be on view in the exhibition space of Villa Grisebach Berlin.
Berlin Photo Week is a conceptually and economically independent project that can be seen and experienced throughout Berlin, featuring a central creative location with event satellites. Founded in 2018 by Eye-EM directors Gen Sadakane and Florian Meissner, in cooperation with art advisor Benjamin Jäger, BPW celebrated its first successes in 2018 and 2019 and was renamed Berlin Photo Week GmbH in autumn 2020. Together with Messe Berlin GmbH and the company IMH Imaging Media House GmbH & Co. KG, the Berlin Photo Week founding team will jointly organize its third edition as well as further develop this innovative event format.
Thomas Hoepker, Child with Scooter at the Berlin Wall. This pedestrian way belongs to the Soviet Sector of Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 1963. © Thomas Hoepker | Magnum Photos
Combining the mediums of photography and film, the second exhibition highlight celebrates the legendary work of famous Magnum photographer Thomas Hoepker with his poignant b/w series Mauerkinder (Children of the Wall)
Combining the mediums of photography and film, the second exhibition highlight celebrates the legendary work of famous Magnum photographer Thomas Hoepker. His poignant b/w series Mauerkinder (Children of the Wall), which was last shown in 2011, will now be presented at the Schlesischer Busch watchtower, a historically charged building which once overlooked the border strip of the Berlin Wall. This outdoor exhibition will be rounded off by a preview of Hoepker – Beyond Life, a documentary film currently being made about the life and work of Hoepker, directed by Nahuel Lopez. The premiere is planned for late 2021 (distributor: DCM); Berlin Photo Week will host a talk with the film’s protagonists.Furthermore, the camera manufacturer Leica is planning an intergenerational exhibition dedicated to three female Leica photographers, to be shown on the grounds of Arena Berlin. More information will follow shortly.
Thomas Hoepker, Children playing at the Berlin Wall in Berlin-Wedding
Berlin, Germany 1963 © Thomas Hoepker / Magnum Photos
Thomas Hoepker, Children playing at the Western side of the Berlin wall West-Berlin, Germany, 1963 © Thomas Hoepker / Magnum Photos
