b. Dülken, Germany 1955
Joachim Brohm is the German pioneer of color photography capturing everyday scenarios in both rural and urban landscapes. Similar to Lewis Baltz (his American influence), Brohm photographs the German and American territories that have experienced a period of industrial decline, therefore heightening the feeling of sterility and irrelevance over time.
In Typology 1979 (2014), Brohm utilizes typologies to document a series of allotment sheds that are marked by the cultural landscape of post-war Germany. In Ruhr (1980-83), Brohm photographs an area that was once home to Germany’s coal mining and steel manufacturing centers.
Fluctuating between realism and abstraction, Brohm composes images that further decentralize and democratize the politically charged subjects thus commenting on the issues raised by American landscape photography.
Education
1983 | University of Essen GHS/Folkwang, Germany: Diploma Visual Communication/Photography |
1984 | Ohio State University, Columbus/Oh, USA, Dept. of Photography and Cinema: Master of Art |
Teaching
1993- | Professor of photography, Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig/Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig |
2001-'02 | Visiting professor, Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst, Zürich/CH |
2003-'11 | Rector of the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig (HGB) |
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2020 | Joachim Brohm: Ruhr Landscapes. Museum Ludwig, Cologne (de) |
Joachim Brohm: Less and More. Beck&Eggeling International Fine Art, Düsseldorf (de) | |
2019 | Two Rivers – Joachim Brohm and Alec Soth. NRW-Forum, Düsseldorf (de) |
Dessau Files. Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art, Vienna (at) | |
2018 | Ohio. Sprengel Museum Hannover (de) |
2016 | State of M. Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg (de) |
2015 | Mies Model Study. Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica/Ca (us) |
Joachim Brohm & Valentina Seidel: Not A House/But A Face, Fotohof Galerie, Salzburg, Austria | |
Not A House, Beck & Eggeling, Düsseldorf, DK | |
2014 | Typology 1979, Beck & Eggeling, Düsseldorf/D (May-June) |
Vernacular & Modern, Grimaldi Gavin, London, UK | |
2013 | Places and Edges, Brancolini Grimaldi, London, UK |
2011 | Color, Landesgalerie Linz im Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseum, Linz |
Culatra, Kicken Berlin, Berlin, DE | |
Ohio, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA | |
2010 | Color, Fotografische Sammlung, SK-Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, DE |
Culatra, CEAM, Quinta de Marim, Olhao, Portugal | |
2009 | Joachim Brohm, Kunsthalle Mainz, Mainz, DE |
Culatra/Areal (with Heribert C. Ottersbach), Galerie Michael Wiesehöfer, Cologne, DE | |
Culatra/Areal (with Heribert C. Ottersbach), Beck & Eggeling New Quarters, Düsseldorf, DE | |
2008 | Select JP (with Valentina Seidel), Galerie Michael Wiesehöfer, Cologne, DE |
2007 | Ohio, Museum of Contemporary Art, Leipzig, DE |
Joachim Brohm, Kicken Berlin, DE | |
Ruhr, Josef-Albers-Museum Quadrat, Bottrop, DE | |
2005 | Fahren, Städtische Galerie, Ravensburg, DE |
Areal, Goethe-Institut, London, UK | |
2004 | Joachim Brohm and Paul Casaer, Fotomuseum Antwerp, BE |
Areal (with Jim Stone), Galerie Frank Schlag & Cie, Frehrking Wiesehöfer, Cologne, DE | |
2003 | Areal, Stadtmuseum, Munich |
Areal, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA | |
Areal, Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, DE | |
2002 | Areal, Fotomuseum Winterthur, CH |
Joachim Brohm, Frehrking Wiesehöfer, Cologne, DE | |
Joachim Brohm, Galerie Frank Schlag & Cie, Essen, DE | |
2000 | Joachim Brohm, KunstRaum Klaus Hinrichs, Trier, DE |
Areal in Progress, Goethe-Institut, Rome, IT |
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 | Zusammenleben: Joachim Brohm – Ute Mahler – John Myers. Kunsthalle Darmstadt (de) |
Subject and Object. Foto Rhine-Ruhr. Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (de) | |
Fotografie: Wolfgang Schulz and the Photo Scene around 1980. Museum of Photography, Berlin (de) | |
2019 | Inside/Outside: Joachim Brohm, Shirley Irons, Catherine Wagner. Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica/Ca (us) |
Moderne. Ikonografie. Fotografie: Das Bauhaus und die Folgen 1919-2019. Kunstmuseum Magdeburg (de) | |
Vom Leben in Industrielandschaften – Eine fotografische Bestandsaufnahme. Leopold-Hoesch Museum, Düren (de) | |
Archive: Between Public and Private. MedPhoto, Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete (gr) | |
Bauhaus_Saxony. Grassi Museum of Applied Arts, Leipzig (de) | |
We Love Photography! 20 Years of Art Collection Deutsche Börse. Curated by Martin Parr. The Cube, Eschborn (de) | |
2018 | Drive Drove Driven. FO.KU.S, Innsbruck (at) |
Strange Beauty. Beck & Eggeling, Düsseldorf (de) | |
2017 | Make New History, Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago (us) |
Mixed media III: About Architecture – Joachim Brohm in Dialogue. Kicken Berlin (de) | |
Il Deserto Rosso Now – Photographic Reactions to Antonionis Classic Film. | |
SK-Stiftung Kultur, die Photographische Sammlung, Cologne (de) | |
Umbrüche. Situation Kunst, Museum Unter Tage, Bochum (de) | |
Industry as a Motif – A look at the Collection. SK-Stiftung Kultur, die Photographische Sammlung, Cologne (de) | |
Work & Leisure. Deutsche Börse Art Collection, Frankfurt/Main (de) | |
2016 | Trinity Project, Mana Contemporary Chicago, Chicago, IL |
Made in Germany. German Photography from the 19th Century until Today. | |
Shenzhen International Photography Week 2016, Shenzhen Art Museum (cn) | |
Reference – Artworks in Context to Mies van der Rohe: Joachim Brohm, Meyer Voggenreither, Johannes Wohnseifer. | |
NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen (de) | |
Hütte, Zaun und Horizont. Kommunale Galerie Berlin (de) | |
Fassaden & Surfaces. Photographische Sammlung, SK-Stiftung Kultur, Cologne (de) | |
Outskirts/Randlagen. Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (de) | |
Transiciones. PHoto Espana, Circulo De Bellas Artes, Madrid (e) | |
2014 | Human Nature, Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Eschborn, DE |
Green City: Geformte Landschaft – Vernetzte Natur, Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen, Oberhausen, DE | |
Ikonen und Konzepte – August Sander to Jim Dine, Neuhardenberg, DE | |
Human Nature, Art Collection Deutsche Börse, NRW Forum, Düsseldorf, DE | |
2014 | Human Nature, Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Eschborn, DE |
Intractable and Untamed: Documentary Photography around 1979, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, DE | |
Structures and Surfaces, Kicken Berlin, DE | |
Einszueins, Kunsthalle der Sparkasse Leipzig, DE | |
Industrial Worlds 014, MAST Collection, Bologna, Italy | |
2013 | Re-Seeing the Permanent Collection: The Viewer’s Choice, Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI |
Crossing Views, Kunstverein Marburg, DE | |
This Infinite World, curated by Paul Graham, Fotomuseum Winterthur, CH | |
Concrete – Photography and Architecture, Fotomuseum Winterthur, CH | |
Schenkung Herbert Lange, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, DE | |
2012 | Motodrom Gelsenkirchen: Joachim Brohm und Peter Freise, bild.sprachen Stadtteilgalerie, Gelsenkirchen, DE |
2011 | Nachrichten aus der Zwischenstadt, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, DE |
Industriezeit, Stadtmuseum, Munich/D | |
Aspects of Color: A History of Color in Photography from | |
Pictorial to Contemporary, Kicken Berlin, DE | |
Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven, Canzani Center Gallery, Columbus College of Art & Design, OH | |
2010 | Objectivity in German Photography 1960-2000, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA |
New Topographics, Landesgalerie Linz, im Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseum, Linz, Austria | |
Arbeit/Labour – Set 7, Fotomuseum Winterthur, CH | |
2009 | Visions of our Time: 10 Years of Photography, Deutsche Börse, Berlin, DE |
2008 | Standort Alltag/Everyday Ideologies, Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, DE |
2007 | What does the jellyfish want?, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, DE |
2006 | 30 Years. A Curator’s Choice, Kicken Berlin, Berlin, DE |
2005 | Multiple Räume: Park, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, DE |
Landscape in Flux, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA | |
2004 | Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China |
Landschaft/Fotografie, Brohm, Nieweg, Riebesehl, Landes Niedersachsen beim Bund, Berlin, DE | |
Best of…, SK-Stiftung, Fotografische Sammlung, Cologne, DE | |
Mixed Farming, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, NL | |
2003 | Jede Fotografie ein Bild, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, DE |
Keep on looking, Kunst Haus Dresden, DE | |
Zeitgenössische Fotografie, Stipendiaten der Alfried Krupp, Museum Folkwang, Essen, DE | |
2002 | Landschaft, Kunstverein Göttingen, DE |
2001 | Trade, Fotomuseum Winterthur, CH, Nederlands Fotoinstituut, Rotterdam, NL |
2000 | Unschärferelation, Kunstverein Freiburg im Breisgau, DE |
Selected Public Collections
Art at Swiss Re Collection, Munich | |
Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Frankfurt/Main | |
Berlinische Galerie/Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst, Fotografie und Architektur, Berlin | |
DZ Bank Kunstsammlung, Frankfurt/Main | |
Fotografische Sammlung im Museum Folkwang, Essen | |
Fotomuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich | |
Fotomuseum Winterthur | |
Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, Milwaukee | |
Josef Albers Museum Quadrat, Bottrop | |
Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Chemnitz | |
Kunstsammlung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Berlin | |
Kunstfonds des Freistaates Sachsen, Dresden | |
LaSalle Bank Photography Collection, Chicago | |
Museum Ludwig, Cologne | |
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago | |
Rheinisches Industriemuseum, Oberhausen | |
Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis | |
Sammlung Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung, Hannover | |
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco | |
Siemens Fotosammlung, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich | |
Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne |
Bibliography
2020 | Subject and Object. Photo Rhine Ruhr. Ed. Gregor Jansen, Text Ralph Goertz. Koenig Books, London |
2019 | Joachim Brohm, Alec Soth: Two Rivers. Ed. Ralph Goertz, Text Ralph Goertz, Vince Leo, Wolfgang Ullrich. Koenig Books, London |
2017 | Joachim Brohm, Valentina Seidel: Why is that smoke yellow?/Perquè quel fumo è giallo? Osservatorio Fotografico, Ravenna |
2016 | Joachim Brohm, Valentina Seidel: Trinity. Text Karen Irvine. Snoeck, Cologne |
2014 | Joachim Brohm: Typology 1979. Text by Ulf Erdmann Ziegler. Mack, London (May 2014) |
2013 | Concrete – Photography and Architecture. (Ed. Daniela Janser, Thomas Seelig, Urs Stahel) Fotomuseum Winterthur. Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess |
Schenkung Herbert Lange, Fotografien 1925-2009 (Ed. Ingrid Mössinger, Kerstin Drechsel). Chemnitz: Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz | |
Re-Seeing The Permanent Collection: The Viewer’s Choice. – Cat. Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University, Milwaukee | |
2011 | Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven. (Ed. Bureau for Open Culture, Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus/Oh, Text by James Voorhies a.o.) Columbus/Oh, USA |
Leipzig. Fotografie seit 1839. (Ed. Thomas Liebscher, Text by Christoph Tannert u.v.a.) Leipzig: Passage Verlag | |
Industriezeit. Fotografien 1845-2010. (Ed. and Text by Ulrich Pohlmann, Thomas Scheutle) Münchner Stadtmuseum. Tübingen: Ernst Wasmuth Verlag | |
XL Photography 4, Art Collection Deutsche Börse. (Ed. Deutsche Börse AG, Text by Freddy Langer, Anne-Marie Beckmann) Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz Publishers | |
2010 | Ruhrblicke: Becher, Berges, Brohm, Feldmann, Gursky, Hanzlova, Höfer, Koch, Neudörfl, Sasse, Struth (Ed. Thomas Weski, Heike Kramer, Text: Sigrid Schneider, Thomas Weski). Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König |
New Topographics, Texte und Rezeption. (Ed. Landesgalerie Linz im Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseum, Die Photographische Sammlung/SK-Stiftung Kultur, Cologne) Salzburg: Fotohof Edition | |
Joachim Brohm: Color. (Ed. Die Fotografische Sammlung/SK-Stiftung Kultur, Köln and Landesgalerie Linz im Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseum, Linz/A, Text by Gabriele Conrath-Scholl), Schirmer-Mosel Publishers, Munich | |
2009 | Joachim Brohm: Ohio. (Ed. Thomas Weski, Text by Thomas Weski and Vince Leo), Steidl Publishers, Göttingen |
Joachim Brohm, Heribert C. Ottersbach: Culatra/Areal. (Ed. Kirsten Nordahl, Text by Thomas Wagner), Steidl Publishers, Göttingen | |
Standort Alltag – Everyday Ideologies (Ed. and Text Annegret Laabs, Uwe Gellner) Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg. Nürnberg: Verlag für Moderne Kunst | |
2007 | Künstler & Fotografien 1959–2007, Museum Ludwig Köln. (Ed. Barbara Engelbach, Text Bodo von Dewitz, Barbara Engelbach, Herbert Molderings, Herta Wolf) Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König |
Joachim Brohm: Ruhr. (Ed./Text: Heinz Liesbrock), Steidl Publishers, Göttingen | |
2005 | Joachim Brohm: Fahren. (Text: Thomas Knubben/Claudio Hils, Peter Piller), Städt. Galerie Ravensburg, Schaden Publishers, Cologne |
Park – Zucht und Wildwuchs in der Kunst. (Ed. Johannes Bilstein, Mathias Winzen) Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Verlag für Moderne Kunst Nürnberg | |
Bilanz in zwei Akten. Sammlung Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung. (Ed. Sabine Schormann) Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung. Düsseldorf: Richter Verlag | |
2004 | Mixed farming. The Changing Agrarian Landscape. Fotomuseum Rotterdam, SKOR Amsterdam. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers |
Jede Fotografie ein Bild. Siemens Fotosammlung. (Text: Ulrich Bischoff, Inka Graeve Ingelmann, Thomas Weski) Pinakothek der Moderne, Sammlung Moderne Kunst. Munich, Dumont Verlag | |
2002 | Joachim Brohm: Areal. [Text: Regina Bittner and Urs Stahel], Steidl Publishers, Göttingen |
Landscape. Photographs by Robert Adams, Joachim Brohm, Laurenz Berges, Bernhard Fuchs, Simone Nieweg. (Text: Robert Adams, Heinz Liesbrock, Thomas Weski). Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung, Göttingen: Steidl Publishers | |
1995 | Joachim Brohm: Kray. [Ed. Timm Rautert, Text by Heinz Liesbrock, Thomas Weski] Edition der Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig im Plitt Verlag, Oberhausen |
1990 | Joachim Brohm: Industriezeit. (Text: Ute Eskildsen) Museum Folkwang, Essen |
Joachim Brohm: Berlin 1990. (Ed. Thomas Weski, Text by Vince Leo), Siemens Kulturprogramm, Siemens AG Berlin, Munich |