 Lothar Wolleh, Günther Uecker,
1968, Silver gelatine paper, 46,7 x 47,2 cm
Lothar Wolleh (1930-1979), a follower of Otto Steinert, had been a successful photographer in the field of advertisement. In the late 1960s he withdrew from this commercial profession to concentrate entirely on his work in the field of autonomous, artistic photography. Amongst other things he developed a passion for the creation of bibliophilic photobooks. The topics he addressed all his life revolved around three major subject areas: “Artist”, “Working Environment” and “The Believing Man”.
 Lothar Wolleh, Franz Heinrich Ulrich,
Deutsche Bank, um 1971-73,
Silver gelatine paper, 26,5 x 26,7 cm
“Who is Lothar Wolleh?” – “Photographer of exceptional artist portraits in black and white.” This could indeed be the answer because since Wolleh’s complete cycle Künstlerporträts was shown in 1980 in a solo exhibition in the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, the reception of the photographer has been geared primarily to this series. In fact, up to today these works are the only ones shown after Wolleh’s death. However, the work of Wolleh includes a wider spectrum of motives, which can be incredibly witty, profound and humorous – a complete rediscovery!
The Ludwig Museum shows the fourth and last stage of the exhibition tour, with approximately 150 works of Lothar Wolleh, who worked with an average format camera virtually without exceptions in the field monochromatic photography. With the integration of black margins around the portrait, the strictly in square format designed pictures are planned in every detail, without artificial lighting and flash systems through distinct lines and reference points: “… my work is never determined by chance, even if it occasionally appears to be a ‘blow up’.”
This year in the Ludwig Museum Koblenz, the tour which started in 2005 now comes to an end after its position in the Kunsthalle Bremen, the Kunst-Museum Ahlen and in the Stadtmuseum Hofheim am Taunus.
 Lothar Wolleh, Rene Magritte,
1965, Silver gelatine paper, 27,2 x 27,2 cm
The catalogue is available for 28 €: Lothar Wolleh. Eine Wiederentdeckung, Fotografien 1959 – 1979. Edited by Wulf Herzogenrath and Burkhard Leismann. With texts by Wulf Herzogenrath, Klaus Honnef, Frank Laukötter, Karin Lelonek and Beate Reifenscheid. Bremen, Hausschild, 2005, 128 pages, numerous images.
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