STEFAN KRUCKENHAUSER
21.02.–09.04.2006
Ein Bild wird...
Original photographs and print proofs. A monographic overview.
For Austria as a skiing nation Stefan Kruckenhauser (1905-1988) is regarded as the "inventor" of wedeln. His importance for Austria as a photographic nation is no less important. Schooled by the Arnold Fanck's mountain films, he began in the 30's with a dynamic and richly contrasting kind of photography which was unknown at the time. His camera of choice at the time was the relatively new Leica 35mm with a long focal length. Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War he revolutionised contemporary photography by the use of the 35mm camera for landscape and architecture photographs and published the photo book "Verborgene Schönheit” which went through countless editions well into the 50's. In the post-war period of reconstruction he published the photo book " Ein Dorf wird", further impressive proof of his work. This work is the only Austrian photo book to find its way into Martin Parr's noteworthy reference work " The Photobook. A History ".
The exhibition in WestLicht comes from the collection of the Tyrolean arts catastral and was put together by Kurt Kaindl together with WestLicht. Above all the exhibition will show vintage prints and original print proofs from Stefan Kruckenhauser's estate. Since the production of photo books was Kruckenhauser's most important artistic aim, many proofs which he produced personally for gravure printing are to be shown. In addition there are works from his youth—made for a Viennese postcard producer—as well as album pages showing his work as a war photographer.
An exhibition that gives a comprehensive insight into the "workshop" of a photographer who influenced a generation by the way he saw things.
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