Born and raised in Cologne and known primarily for his iconic photographs of the Neues Bauen movement of modernist architecture that emerged there in the 1920s, Werner Mantz (1901-1983) established a successful practice in his home town. After opening a studio there in 1921, he captured many an artist, politician and famous intellectual before receiving commissions from architects, such as Wil颅helm Riphahn, Peter Franz N枚cker, Caspar Maria Grod and other avant-garde rep颅re颅sen颅ta颅tives of the medium.
Published in architectural journals, the images that Mantz produced possess a technical finesse that endows the buildings with an almost majestic presence, despite their cold hard lines and functionality. After working for over ten years as a photographer in Cologne and capturing world famous buildings, such as the K枚lnische Zeitung newspaper offices and the Blauer Hof housing estate (1926), Mantz opened a second studio in Maastricht in 1932. It was here that he became well-known for portrait photography, mostly specializing in pictures of children.
In a new exhibition titled Architecture and People, the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam brings Mantz鈥檚 architectural and portrait works together to shine new light on his working methods. As a joint exhibition with Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the display shows collections from both institutions together and curates the images by form rather than by geography or chronology. This unique approach provides compelling insights into Mantz鈥檚 interest in the behaviour of light and how it can be used to give shape and character to both architectural and human form. Despite seeing himself primarily as a craftsman, viewing the images side by side highlights Mantz鈥檚 quality as an artist. In the arresting image Communion Portrait of a Girl, Limburg from 1959, for example, the attention to light and atmosphere echoes that of earlier architectural photos from his oeuvre.
Museum Ludwig鈥檚 curator, Miriam Halwani has commented on the striking effect of Mantz鈥檚 images, explaining that, 鈥渁s ba颅nal as his sub颅jects seem at first glance, I was sur颅prised by the cool颅ness and eeri颅ness that his pic颅tures ex颅ude. The build颅ings that he pho颅to颅graphed are de颅void of peo颅ple, clean, al颅most vir颅tu颅al. We do not know the iden颅ti颅ties of the peo颅ple in the por颅traits tak颅en in his stu颅dio in the 1950s. In a way, we are on颅ly left with out颅er shells. And it is pre颅cise颅ly for this rea颅son that the th颅ese pic颅tures per颅sist in our me颅m颅o颅ry.鈥
Until 2 September. Find out more at.
Celia Graham-Dixon
Credits:
1.聽VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2017, Werner Mantz / Nederlands, Fotomuseum, Foto: Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam.
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