Hildegard Ochse Explained

Hildegard Ochse
Birth Date:1935 12, mf=yes
Birth Place:Bad Salzuflen, Lippe, Germany
Death Date:1997 6, mf=yes
Death Place:Berlin, Germany
Occupation:Photographer
Style:Documentary
Nationality:German
Website:,

Hildegard Ochse (December 7, 1935 – June 28, 1997) was a German photographer.

Life and work

Hildegard Maria Helene Ochse (maiden name Römer) was born at home in Bad Salzuflen, Westphalia on December 7, 1935, the daughter of Dr. phil. Emma Maria Römer-Krusemeyer[1] (1894–1964) and Arthur Peter Maria Römer (1893–1957). At age sixteen in the summer of 1952, Hildegard left in the summer the provincial Bad Salzuflen. She traveled as an exchange student on scholarship to Rochester. Once in Rochester, she lived with a host family and attended the Catholic Nazareth Academy. Her host father was employed by Eastman Kodak as a senior chemist in the development department and his knowledge of photography became an important influence for Hildegard. In the US, she produced her first portraits as well as remarkable street and architectural photographs. After a year in 1953, Hildegard returned to Bad Salzuflen with her high school diploma. In 1955 she passed her German high exams with honors and began studying romance languages and art history at the University of Freiburg in Breisgau with Dr. Hugo Friedrich (1904–1978) and Dr. Kurt Bauch (1897–1975), whose areas of research were among others Dutch painting and Rembrandt. During her studies, she met her future husband Horst Ochse (1927–2014)[2] at the university in Freiburg. In 1957 she received a scholarship to Aix-en-Provence in southern France and lived with a photographer in modest conditions. She was impressed by the landscape and the colors in Provence and wrote »... if I were a painter, I think I could not paint this country because it is too BEAUTIFUL. And the eye cannot take in these colors and these forms at once. If painting a landscape, then northern Germany, the marshes, the fields...«. In the same year, she became pregnant in the fall, and her father unexpectedly died on her birthday. In March her marriage to the later Dr. phil. Horst Ochse followed. In summer, she gave birth to her first child and had to quit studying. In the following seven years, Hildegard had three other children who required her full attention. In the spring of 1973, the family moved to West Berlin for professional reasons. After an extended stay in France with the family in 1975, their marriage began to fail later leading to a final separation. Almost simultaneously in early 1975, Hildegard again discovered her passion for photography. At first she taught herself. Subsequently, she learned through the Werkstatt für Photographie (Workshop for Photography), in photography courses of the continuing education center in Zehlendorf in 1976, and later in the legendary photography workshop of Michael Schmidt (1945–2014) in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

At the beginning of the workshop, a somewhat orthodox documentary way of seeing dominated, which organized itself around the aesthetics of Michael Schmidt and focused on a presentation of everyday life. Later, the photography scene experimented with new forms of documentation which emphasized a subjective view of the author. Hildegard Ochse quickly developed an independent, artistic authorship with a personal viewpoint. Most students and attendees were self-taught and therefore had a more liberal understanding of the medium compared to professional photographers. The imagery and the content were initially more important than technical quality. She participated in courses under the direction of Ulrich Görlich (1952–), Wilmar Koenig (1952–2018), as well as workshops by American photographers such as Lewis Baltz (1945–2014), John Gossage (1946–), Ralph Gibson (1939–) and Larry Fink (1952–) and the German photographer André Gelpke (1947–). Her imagery developed soon after initial attempts—profound, multi-layered and philosophical, dense, highly concentrated, conceptual and documentary. She created images primarily for herself and per her own wishes.

From 1978 Hildegard taught photography at the state media center,[3] as well as at the Pedagogical University Berlin and could present her images in galleries for the first time. Shortly after her new beginning, the first photo series were purchased by the Berlin Gallery. After the final separation from her husband and a private fresh start, she established herself as an independent author photographer as of 1981. She received extensive commissions, grants and exhibitions at home and abroad. A portion of the body of work she produced is housed in the collections of the Berlinische Galerie[4] in Berlin, Art Collection of the German Bundestag,[5] and at the Universitá di Parma, Centro studi, dip. Fotografia and private collections.She traveled extensively with her camera and thus unintentionally documented her own life. Italy became her preferred destination. In 1995 she was diagnosed with leukemia, she died in the summer of 1997 at the age of 61 in Berlin. She and her husband had four children: Adrian, Katharina, Caroline, Benjamin.[6]

Publishing rights for most of Hildegard Ochse's photographs are now handled by her son Benjamin Ochse and the Prussian Heritage Image Archive.

Notable works

Exhibitions

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Authors index: Maria Römer-Krusemeyer. Literatur Portal Westfalen. December 29, 2016.
  2. Web site: University Staff directory. University FU Berlin. October 31, 2007. December 29, 2016.
  3. "Profile: Hildegard Ochse Estate: Photographer". Augsburg, Germany: Der Greif. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  4. Web site: Online Artis Index: Hildegard Ochse. Berlinische Gallery. December 29, 2016.
  5. Web site: Deutscher Bundestag – Hildegard Ochse. Deutscher Bundestag. de. 13 February 2019.
  6. "Profile: Hildegard Ochse Estate: Photographer", Der Greif.
  7. Web site: Hildegard Ochse (1935–1997) Das Vermächtnis einer Autorenfotografin – Haus am Kleistpark. 2021-03-13. de-DE.
  8. Web site: WENDEZEIT 1989 – 1991. German State Parliament Brandenburg. December 29, 2016. February 7, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180207010335/https://www.landtag.brandenburg.de/de/meldungenausstellung_%E2%80%9Ewendezeit_1989_-_1991%E2%80%9C_zeigt_zum_tag_des_mauerbaus_arbeiten_der_fotografin_hildegard_ochse/617699?_referer=633109. dead.
  9. Web site: Between Her Own Viewpoint and Authentic Reality The Photographic Oeuvre of Hildegard Ochse. Kommunale Gallerie. December 29, 2016.
  10. Web site: Kreuzberg – Amerika Werkstatt für Photographie 1976–1986. C/O Berlin. December 29, 2016.
  11. Web site: A Different Kind of Protest. Aperture. October 18, 2017. December 28, 2017.
  12. Web site: Künstlerinnen im Aufbruch zur Moderne. Von Ida Gerhardi bis Ilse Häfner-Mode. / Schieder-Schwalenberg. 2020-12-29. www.schieder-schwalenberg.de.
  13. Web site: Archiv des Heidelberger FORUM für KUNST. 2020-12-29. www.heidelberger-forum-fuer-kunst.de.
  14. Web site: About GELD – WAHN – SINN: Die Sammlung Haupt in den Reinbeckhallen Berlin. 2020-12-29. Sammlung Haupt »Dreißig Silberlinge – Kunst und Geld«. en. April 14, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210414011154/https://www.sammlung-haupt.de/exhibitions/13995/geld-wahn-sinn-die-sammlung-haupt-in-den-reinbeckhallen-berlin/about/. dead.
  15. Web site: Deutscher Bundestag - Kunst im Bundestag.
  16. Web site: 1990. Fotografische Positionen aus einem Jahr, über ein Jahr.
  17. Web site: EMOP Berlin - European Month of Photography.
  18. Book: Barbara Köppe, Fotografien 1988 – 1990, Hildegard Ochse, Metamorphosen 1990: Galerie "Inselstrasse 13", 17. Oktober bis 9. November 1991. 1991. Galerie Inselstr. 13. Berlin.
  19. Book: Frauenzimmer - Frauenräume : Fotodokumentation.

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