Bernd and Hilla Becher are among those rare artists whose work is part of widely differing collections all over the world. In the visual arts, they have ranked since the 1960s alongside major figures in minimal and conceptual art such as Carl Andre, Donald Judd, Robert Smithson and Sol LeWitt. In the history of photography, their work is mentioned in the same breath as Eugene Atget, Walker Evans, Karl Blossfeldt and August Sander, with whom the Bechers share a passion for the documentary and narrative qualities of the medium. Culturally, their brilliant black and white photographs of industrial buildings are rooted in the history of architecture and engineering, where their work provided an early research tool and resource for industrial archaeologists seeking to broaden the scope of architectural conservation. With their photographs of water towers and winding towers, blast furnaces, silos and gas tanks, over sixty of which are reproduced in this book, Bernd and Hilla Becher set new standards in perceptual aesthetics, presenting heavy industry as an object of art. Rendered timeless by the camera and isolated from their original, often perplexingly complex surroundings, they appear as monumental symbols of their own history - with all the stylistic diversity of the great masterpieces of architecture.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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`The Bechers proved that documentary photography can be both historically important and high end art' --Black & White Photography
'An exquisite volume' --Time Out
'If you are turned on by shots of a preparation plant in Belgium, a grain elevator in Illinois, a coke-quenching tower in Germany, a blast furnace in Luxembourg or a couple of British gasometers, buy this book' --Amateur Photographer
'Intriguing ... [Suzanne Lange contributes] an excellent introductory essay' --Ag
'An informative introduction'
--Art Monthly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
'An exquisite volume' --Time Out
'If you are turned on by shots of a preparation plant in Belgium, a grain elevator in Illinois, a coke-quenching tower in Germany, a blast furnace in Luxembourg or a couple of British gasometers, buy this book' --Amateur Photographer
'Intriguing ... [Suzanne Lange contributes] an excellent introductory essay' --Ag
'An informative introduction'
--Art Monthly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Susanne Lange is an art historian and critic. Among her other books are August Sander, Degrees of Stillness: Photographs from the Manfred Heiting Collection and Rosalind Solomon: Chapalingas.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Caro-A
Format:Hardcover
Justly famous. Gives a wide selection of building variations within each building type. Beautifuly composed pictures, and without any imposed drama.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
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The Great Photographic Chroniclers of the Rust Belt
28 Mar 2006
By Marco Antonio Abarca
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Bernd and Hilla Becher have spent the past 45 years travelling the rust belts of Northern Europe and the United States taking photographs of decaying industrial buildings. "Basic Forms of Industrial Buildings" brings together 61 black and white photographs that chronicle the different forms of such common place buildings as water towers, coal bins, gravel plants and blast furnaces. Their approach is to find an interesting building and photograph it straight on without distractions such as people or even clouds. While these images are essentially cold and hyper-analytic they nevertheless open the viewers eyes to the sculptural possibilities of even the ugliest industrial buildings. I found the Becher's photographs to be wonderful contrasts to that other great chronicler of urban American decay, Jose Camilo Vergara. An interesting and thought provoking book.
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