Kai Wiedenhöfer Explained

Kai Wiedenhöfer
Birth Date:3 March 1966
Birth Place:Schwenningen
Alma Mater:Folkwang University of the Arts
Known For:Photography

Kai Wiedenhöfer (3 March 1966 – 9 January 2024) was a German photojournalist.[1] [2] Two major subjects of his work were Palestinian life and separation barriers. Wiedenhöfer received the W. Eugene Smith Grant, the Carmignac Photojournalism Award and the Carl von Ossietzky Medal. He had a solo exhibition at the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris in 2010, documenting the consequences of Israel's war against Gaza.

Early life and education

Wiedenhöfer was born in Schwenningen, Schwarzwald-Baar district in southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany.[1] His mother was a pharmacist and his father a mechanic. He grew up in the countryside and after the death of his father in 1981, moved to a small town near Stuttgart.[3] He studied documentary photography and editorial design at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, graduating in 1995.[1]

Life and work

Wiedenhöfer documented Palestinian life for almost two decades, publishing the books Perfect Peace (2002), Wall (2007), and The Book of Destruction (2010). The latter book:

"is unquestionably about violence, documenting in almost unbearable detail the damage left after Israel's assault on Gaza in 2009. Unpeopled images of ruined buildings, photographed with an architectural precision, are contrasted with portraits of equally ruined people with truncated limbs and scarred bodies. His human subjects look into the camera, seated in their own homes".[4]

He spent decades photographing all the major separation barriers, including the Berlin Wall, the Israeli West Bank barrier, the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus, the Trump wall, the Baghdad Wall, and the peace lines in Belfast. He has said:

"One of the things that links all the walls and barriers is the insistence by those who build them that each wall is unique and that you cannot compare the different walls, [. . .] But the point I am trying to make is different. It's that what connects all these walls is a problem you cannot solve through negotiation, so you build a wall and make the problem worse."
The combination of the fall of one wall and construction of another inspired Wiedenhöfer to create Wall on Wall, a display of large images of the Israeli separation wall on the remnants of the Berlin Wall at the outdoor East Side Gallery; and later three dozen large images of barriers from around the world displayed on the peace lines in Belfast.[5] [6] [7] [8]

In 2024, he died after a heart attack while cycling in Swabia, age 57.[1]

Publications

Awards

Exhibitions

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Obituary: Kai Wiedenhöfer . 2024-03-28 . LFI-Leica Fotografie International . en.
  2. Web site: 2024-01-16 . Zum Tod des Fotografen Kai Wiedenhöfer . 2024-03-29 . . de.
  3. Web site: Biography Kai Wiedenhofer . 2024-03-30 . Sharjah Art Foundation.
  4. News: Beaumont . Peter . 2011-01-23 . Kai Wiedenhöfer's The Book of Destruction: Gaza – One year After the 2009 War . 2024-03-28 . The Observer . en-GB . 0029-7712.
  5. News: Beaumont . Peter . 2019-11-09 . Symbols of failure: the deeper issue that connects border walls . 2024-03-28 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  6. Web site: Roegiers . Brett . 2015-08-26 . A world divided by walls . 2024-03-29 . CNN . en.
  7. News: Horne . Rebecca . Panoramic Wall Photos Examine the World's Most Volatile Borders . 2024-03-29 . Wired . en-US . 1059-1028.
  8. Web site: Sharma . Gouri . From the streets of Kobane to the Berlin Wall . 2024-03-29 . Al Jazeera . en.
  9. Web site: BBC News In pictures: The barrier by Kai Wiedenhofer . 2024-03-29 . BBC News.
  10. Web site: 2002 Kai Wiedenhöfer PN3 . 2024-03-28 . World Press Photo.
  11. Web site: 2002 Kai Wiedenhöfer . 2024-03-28 . W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund . en-US.
  12. Web site: 2004 Kai Wiedenhöfer GNS2-EL. 2024-03-28 . World Press Photo.
  13. News: 2015-11-18 . Carmignac award retrospective . 2024-03-28 . BBC News . en-GB.
  14. Web site: Warner . Marigold . Carmignac Photojournalism Award: 10 years of reportage. 2024-03-28 . British Journal of Photography . en-GB.
  15. Web site: Carl von Ossietzky Medal 2016 to SOS Méditerranée and the documentary photographer Kai Wiedenhöfer . 2024-03-28 . International Federation for Human Rights . en.
  16. Web site: Pfeiffer . Alice . 2010-12-03 . Gaze of Gaza . 2024-03-29 . ARTnews.com . en-US.

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