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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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