Fred Koch: Naturfotografie der 1920er/30er Jahre

Traces of a forgotten photographer

The Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation has a real rediscovery to present: It is dedicating an exhibition and this catalogue to Fred Koch (1904-1947), probably one of the most interesting photographers of the Weimar Republic, who is now only known to a few specialists. In his new-objective black and white photographs, Fred Koch focussed primarily on detailed shots of plants and crystals, corals and shellfish as well as insects. He came into contact with photography in 1922/23 through Albert Renger-Patzsch, who was in charge of the Folkwang publishing house's picture archive and photographed plants on a large scale. In contrast to the sober, objective style favoured by Renger-Patzsch, Fred Koch's photographs emphasise the floral beauty and grace of the plants as well as their splendour. He used light reflections and strong shadow effects to emphasise the plasticity of the objects he photographed in an almost theatrical manner. Fred Koch was also a tireless inventor: he designed special cameras for extreme depth of field, optimised the equipment and studied the lighting modalities down to the smallest detail. It is to be hoped that this publication will help to establish Fred Koch's name in New Objectivity photography once and for all.

Exhibition:
Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation, Berlin, 15/1 - 24/4/2022