Post on 27-Jan-2019
info@photomuseum.de · www.photomuseum.de
Helmstedter Straße 1 · D-38102 Braunschweig · Telefon +49(0)531 75000 · Fax +49(0)531 75036
Leiterin: Dr. Gisela Parak · 1. Vorsitzender: Prof. Walter Ackers
Bankverbindung: Nord/LB Braunschweig IBAN DE45 2505 0000 0000 4169 66 BIC NOLADE2HXXX SteuerNr.: 14/204/31878
Camilo José Vergara Tracking Time – Documenting America’s Post-Industrial Cities 17.10. – 28.12.14 Torhäuser 17.10. – 11.12.14 Ausstellungshalle Hamburger Straße 267
© Camilo J. Vergara, Former Detroit Savings Bank, 5705 West Fort St., Detroit, 2013
For the last 40 years, photographer Camilo José Vergara has been documenting the tensions in
deprived neighborhoods in major U.S. American cities. He has examined the divergence of American
society and accounted for the symptoms of social conflicts. A reader of visual tracks, a photographic
sociologist, ethnographer and urban researcher, Vergara has created a vast, impressive archive of
American urban history, which spells out the changes and the dissolution of district communities.
Leiterin: Dr. Gisela Parak · 1. Vorsitzender: Prof. Walter Ackers
Bankverbindung: Nord/LB Braunschweig · IBAN DE45 2505 0000 0000 4169 66 BIC NOLADE2HXXX SteuerNr.: 14/204/31878
5th St. between Towne Ave. and Crocker St. Skin Row, 1994 Lexington Ave., Harlem, 1970 © Camilo J. Vergara
Investigating processes of ghettoization and gentrification in Harlem, the Bronx and Brooklyn, as well
as observing the decay of entire cities like Detroit, Vergara’s photographs elucidate on the impact of
unemployment, racial discrimination and social prospects. Conceived as long-term studies, in which
the photographer returns to the same places to document their changes, his photographs point out
the changing features of municipal places.
Vergara’s unique methodology, merging photography and sociology, thereby finds expression in his
understanding of photography and is underscored by his reading of the cities’ architectural surfaces:
“I prowl the entire city in search of local forms of the elements that define the new ghetto: caretaking
institutions, NIMBYs, ruins, graphic expressions, fortification, and enclaves.” (Vergara: American
Ghetto, 1995) Creating a historic collective memory, his photographs visualize the cities’ codes and
rites and reveal patterns, designations, and social limitations that have occurred since the last four
decades.
Thus, as no other contemporary photographer before him, Vergara has succeeded in making
processes of urban transformation visible. In July 2013, he was awarded the National Humanity
Medal by President Obama, which makes him the first photographer to ever receive this award. In fall
2014, the Library of Congress acquired a greater selection of his work to preserve for the national
memory.
The exhibition “Tracking Time – Documenting America’s Post-Industrial Cities”, taking place at
Museum for Photography Brunswick in October 2014, presents Vergara’s exceptional work in his first
solo exhibition in Germany. With 180 prints, the exhibition will provide insights into his intriguing
study of American urban history.
Camilo José Vergara was born in Chile in 1944, moved to the U.S. in the 1970s and has been living in
New York City ever since.
An exhibition catalogue will be published by Kerber with texts from Gisela Parak (Museum für
Photographie Braunschweig), Camilo José Vergara and Helena Zinkham (Library of Congress,
Washington D.C.).
Leiterin: Dr. Gisela Parak · 1. Vorsitzender: Prof. Walter Ackers
Bankverbindung: Nord/LB Braunschweig · IBAN DE45 2505 0000 0000 4169 66 BIC NOLADE2HXXX SteuerNr.: 14/204/31878
Duration of the exhibition 17.10. – 28.12.2014 (Torhäuser Helmstedter Straße 1)
17.10. – 11.12.2014 (Ausstellungshalle Hamburger Straße 267)
Press talk Thursday, 16.10.2014, noon, with Dr. Gisela Parak, Curator of the
exhibition and the artist
Exhibition opening Thursday, 16.10.2014, 7 p.m.
Exhibition place Museum für Photographie Braunschweig e.V.
Helmstedter Straße 1, 38102 Braunschweig
and
Ausstellungshalle Hamburger Straße 267
Hamburger Straße 267, 38114 Braunschweig
Opening hours Tue – Fr 1 p.m. – 6 p.m., Sat + Sun 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Admission charge 5 € / 3 € reduced
Press contact Christin Müller · 0531-75000 · projekte@photomuseum.de
Accompanying program Monday, 13.10.2014, 7.30 p.m.: Lecture by Camilo José Vergara
Location: The American Academy in Berlin, Am Sandwerder 17-19, 14109
Berlin
Wednesday, 15.10.2014, 7 p.m.: Lecture by Camilo José Vergara
Location: HBK Braunschweig, Auditorium, 38118 Braunschweig
In cooperation with HBK Braunschweig
Thursday, 13.11.2014, 7 p.m.: Ruined Images. Visuelle Stadterkundungen
hinter den Ruinen von Detroit und Rom – Lecture by Jochen Becker,
metroZones e.V.
Location: Ausstellungshalle Hamburger Straße 267, 38114 Braunschweig
Thursday, 11.12.2014, 7 p.m.: Eine kurze Ideengeschichte der
amerikanischen Stadt – Lecture by Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Heinze, Englisches
Seminar, TU Braunschweig
Location: Ausstellungshalle Hamburger Straße 267, 38114 Braunschweig
Wednesday, 05.11. + 03.12.2014, 6 p.m.: Special guided tours with
Kristina Thrien
Location: Ausstellungshalle Hamburger Straße 267, 38114 Braunschweig
Leiterin: Dr. Gisela Parak · 1. Vorsitzender: Prof. Walter Ackers
Bankverbindung: Nord/LB Braunschweig · IBAN DE45 2505 0000 0000 4169 66 BIC NOLADE2HXXX SteuerNr.: 14/204/31878
Guided tours:
Sundays 4 p.m. at the Ausstellungshalle Hamburger Straße 267,
Sundays 4 p.m. at the Museum für Photographie (14./21./28.12.2014)
PLEASE NOTE: The press talk, the exhibition opening and the accompanying program take place at Ausstellungshalle
Hamburger Straße 267, unless otherwise stated.
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