March 22 June 2, 2002
Hans Hansen Object Photography
"The simpler a photo is the better it is for a good idea." (Hans Hansen)
There are important philosophers whose work was devoted in particular to the world of things, their specific characteristics and their quiet existence. And there are important photographers who have given themselves over to the image of things, their hidden aesthetics and mysterious, unique presence.
One of these is Hans Hansen (born 1940) one of the most influential product and object photographers in Germany and already a legend in his particular field.
For renowned clients such as Sony, Bulthaup, American Express, Lufthansa,
Vitra, Fiat, Perrier, Erco, Daimler Benz, Volkswagen, Porsche, Kodak, Joop,
Jil Sander and many more, his Hamburg studio is one of the top international
names. His work appears in major newspapers and magazines, from Geo, Harpers
Bazaar, Stern, Vogue, Zeit, Max, Feinschmecker, Architektur & Wohnen, and so
on as well as in numerous specialist photography journals. In addition he has
a passion for publishing high visual quality cookery books and for some years
now has been engaged in independent studio photography. He is a member of the
Art Directors Club Deutschland, the Bund Freischaffender Fotodesigner (Association
of Independent Photographers), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft der Photographie
(German Photographic Society). In 1997 he was awarded the Karl Schneider Prize
by the City of Hamburg.
Following an apprenticeship as a lithographer, in the late 1950s Hans Hansen
studied graphics under Prof. Walter Breker at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf.
At the time photography did not feature in the curriculum. He familiarized
with it himself including by encountering modern design and at the age
of 22 set himself up on his own: as a photographer.
In the meantime his way of viewing things has become the accepted thing. Numerous products are inextricably associated with the images he created. Only rarely do the specific quality of the motif and the aesthetic statement in the photograph blend as perfectly, naturally and yet sensually as in Hans Hansen's specialist works. "Photography using graphic means" was how he once referred to his method of deliberate restraint and strategic reduction drawing with light. "He has developed a formal language which, through resolution and abstraction, is constantly producing new points of view, new shapes." (F. C. Gundlach). Whether cars, chairs, cups, fabrics, luminaries, flowers, or food the object at all times appears in appropriate light or almost minimalist lighting effects precisely as befits its character and in a manner that conveys the material appearance of the objects as being a fundamental principle of their existence.
Hans Hansen sees himself very much part and parcel of applied professional commissioned photography and readily refers to his independent works as experimental. Both types of photography areas enhance each other and produce buoyant artistic exchange. As a professional photographer, however, Hansen sees himself as part of a communicative process. Which accounts for his statement that: "The simpler a photo is the better it is for a good idea." Because the right photo pays homage to the object, renders service and becomes a piece of mosaic in a complex structure for example in the communicative system of advertising.
Hans Hansen's portfolio is made up both of documentary product photography as well as poetic still lifes, stringent object photography and ingenious background, even playful dramatics. He is a master of presenting all categories of objects in photographic form. Whether a shot is to be used for advertising purposes or whether it is an independent work is of secondary importance. Hansen removes objects from their usual surroundings and imparts them with magic after all, there is always more to a good photo than just the object illustrated. |
