Blick in die Zeit – Alter und Altern im photographischen Porträt
('A glimpse of time – photographic portraits of old age and ageing')
An exhibition by the Sparkasse KölnBonn Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur foundation
The exhibition Blick in die Zeit – Alter und Altern im photographischen Porträt ('A glimpse of time – photographic portraits of old age and ageing') presents the points of view of various international photographers who approach the different facets of the phenomenon of 'old age' by means of portraits dating from around 1910 to the present. The arresting portraits of old people captured by August Sander in the early 20th century, for example, may have been perfectly ordinary depictions of the rural population at the time but now represent images of a long past era. The exhibition also features a portrait of the aged Sander himself, taken by the American artist Imogen Cunningham.
Cindy Sherman highlights our society's strange ambivalence towards ageing. In her self-portrait, she slips into the role of an urban society lady who endeavours to carefully conceal the signs of ageing with make-up, her chosen style of clothing and her attitude. John Coplans approaches the subject far more ruthlessly. In large-scale images, he displays his aged, naked body without any attempts at disguise. This is still a considered a taboo, which proves the invisibility of old age in our popular culture.
These and the other series presented illustrate the wide range of different perspectives regarding the two related phenomena of 'old age' and 'ageing' in photography, as this medium can provide 'a glimpse of time' like no other, a fact which this exhibition clearly illustrates.
