Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher
Pitheads (1974)
Tate
Who areÌýthey?
Hilla Becher was a German artist born in 1931 in Siegen, Germany. She was one half of a photography duo with her husband Bernd Becher. For forty years, they photographed disappearing industrial architecture around Europe and NorthÌýAmerica.
They won the Erasmus Prize in 2002 and Hasselblad Award in 2004 for their work and roles as photography professors at the art academy .
How did they become aÌýduo?
They began collaborating together in 1959 after meeting at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 1957. Bernd originally studied painting and then typography, whereas Hilla had trained as a commercial photographer. After two years collaborating together, theyÌýmarried.
Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher
Blast Furnaces (1969–95)
Tate
What did theyÌýphotograph?
Industrial structures including water towers, coal bunkers, gas tanks and factories. Their work had a documentary style as their images were always taken in black and white. Their photographs never includedÌýpeople.
They exhibited their work in sets or typologies, grouping of several photographs of the same type of structure. The are well known for presenting their images in gridÌýformations.Ìý
Was it even photography in the firstÌýplace?
Well technically yes, but their work has also been referred to as sculpture. The Bechers called the subjects of their photographs ‘anonymous sculptures’, and they produced a successful photobook of the same title inÌý1970.
In 1990, they received an award at the Venice Biennale not for photography, but sculpture, due to their ability to illustrate the sculptural properties ofÌýarchitecture.
Bernd and Hilla Becher
Gas-holders Germany, Belgium, France, Britain, USA, 1966–93
Each 40 x 30Ìýcm
All photographs courtesy Bernd and HillaÌýBecher
What were the commonÌýthemes?
Overlooked beauty and the relationship between form and function. Both subjects addressed the effect of industry on economy and theÌýenvironment.
What were their keyÌýworks?
Their first photobook Anonymous Sculptures was published in 1970 and is their most well-known body of work. The title is a nod to Marcel Duchamp’s readymades and indicates that the Becher’s referred to industrial buildings as foundÌýobjects.
The book consisted of an encyclopaedic inventory of industrial structures including kilns, blast furnaces and gas-holders categorised into sections (the pot, the oven, the chimney, the winch, the pump, and theÌýlaboratory.)
Bernd and Hilla Becher
Water Towers USA, 1988
Black and white photographs
Each 40 x 30Ìýcm
Collection John Aniello
All photographs courtesy Bernd and HillaÌýBecher
What was theirÌýlegacy?
They were often labelled as conceptual artists and influenced minimalist and conceptual artists like Ed Ruscha, Carl Andre and Douglas Huebler.
As professors of The Dusseldorf School of Photography, they influenced a generation of German photographers who were their students (including Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth.)
What do the criticsÌýsay?
The Bechers approached photography the way a botanist might approach the cataloguing of flora and fauna
Sean O’Hagan, theÌýGuardianThey are the lines on the face of the world. The photographs are portraits of our history. And when the structures have been demolished and grassed over, as though they were never there, the pictures remain.
Michael Collins, The Long LookÌýI was struck as always by the underlying sense of loss and melancholy that emanates from these photographs: you are looking at a lost world, however soul-destroying that world was for those who had to live and work in it.
Sean O’Hagan, theÌýGuardian
Bernd and Hilla Becher
Winding towers Germany, Belgium, France, 1965–98
Each 40 x 30Ìýcm
All photographs courtesy Bernd and Hilla Becher
Becher inÌýquotes…
The question ‘is this a work of art or not?’ is not very interesting for us.
Instant Expert, AmericanÌýPhotoBy placing several cooling towers side by side something happened, something like tonal music; you don’t see what makes the objects different until you bring them together, so subtle are their differences.
Hilla Becher obituary, theÌýGuardianWe photographed water towers and furnaces because they are honest. They are functional, and they reflect what they do - that is what we liked. A person always is what s/he wants to be, never what s/he is. Even an animals usually plays a role in front of the camera.
