Photography/graphic design

	Willi Moegle (1897-1989) – Photographs The Arzberg Porcelain Factory in the 1950s March 23 – July 18, 2004
	"I recognized good shape, what good shape entailed." The words of Willi Moegle in an interview shortly before his death. For him, this also involved its presentation in photographic form, a discipline he pursued with passion and perfection his entire life. Moegle was born in Stuttgart in 1897. Following an apprenticeship as a process engraver and a three-year course at the School of Arts and Crafts in Stuttgart, in 1927 he opened his first photography studio there, which was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1944. The studio re-opened in 1950 in Leinfelden-Echterdingen and was taken over in the early 1970s by one of the employees, Hansi Müller-Schorp, who continued Moegle's work, radicalizing it by means of an abstract approach. In the 1950s and 1960s in particular the photographer Willi Moegle played a pivotal role in influencing and designing the image of the porcelain, glass and furniture producing industries in Germany. His photographic style corresponded with the design and character of these everyday objects, and, with his unmistakable signature and much sensitivity he succeeded in portraying them quite literally "in the right light". In doing so he developed a highly personal style, which was to serve as a role model for generations of photographers to come. While perhaps not as well known as numerous other colleagues, Willi Moegle ranks as one of the most outstanding and distinguished 20th century specialist photographers. At the time, however, photographing products was a no-name business, with most of the original prints merely displaying the words "in-house photo". This fitted in with Moegle's approach: he gave himself up totally to his motifs. It was his aim was to capture the essence of the objects, their material nature, plasticity, functional characteristics, even their specific charm – all this by means of scant photographic means: the lighting, the thought that went into how the objects are arranged and the choice of background etc. In front of his lens, the objects assumed a personality of their own. Light and shadow remained at all times the most important medium – used seemingly with ease and quite naturally: this was the art of Willi Moegle. The Arzberg porcelain factory in Upper Franconia, which was founded in 1887, commissioned Moegle on numerous occasions to document its products and production facilities. Even today the firm still publishes the pictures produced, thereby representing in visual form its historical continuity and how it is still of current relevance. Apart from producing timeless portraits of Arzberg classics by Hermann Gretsch and Heinrich Löffelhardt, in the series of photographs on show Moegle devoted himself solely to the production process. This is the first time that so many of the photographs have been exhibited and they provide a sensible enhancement to the adjoining rooms. In this case Moegle focuses first and foremost not on the finished product, but primarily on the dialogue between man and product. In the works, both appear to take "the limelight" on an illuminated stage that has been created specially for them. Each different situation, each part of the process is important in its own way, has an aura of uniqueness and relevance. The object is not cut off from its day-to-day surroundings but rather mankind is absorbed in its ambience, appearing on an equal footing with the objects, merged and at one with these through the camera's cone of light. In their complexity and singularity Willi Moegle's photographs of porcelain manufacture in Arzberg represent an enrichment of, and go a step further than being mere product photographs. Furthermore they provide us with an insight into a type of production that is in danger of dying out. Despite changing fashions, however, the Arzberg brand managed to survive and secure its position. Proof enough that porcelain has lost none of its appeal.