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COMMUNITY.
Fotografie und Gemeinschaft
Kunstpalast Düsseldorf

What Keeps Us Together

The soccer club, the family, the political collective—humans strive for a sense of belonging. Ever since the invention of photography, the medium has not only captured this feeling, it has also variously served to strengthen it or call it in question. Photography lets us demonstrate that we are part of something bigger. Or it can be used to draw boundaries and exclude those who do not belong to our community. 

Community sheds light on the multifaceted ­relationship between photography and community in history and the present. The ­publication ­gathers examples of vernacular, commercial, and fine-art photography that explore identification with community as the glue that holds society together. Works by ­Viktoria Binschtok, Marianne Brandt, Cihan Çakmak, Yvon Chabrowski, Omar ­Victor Diop, Mayara Ferrão, Juliane ­Herrmann, Alfredo Jaar, Cate Lartey, Lilly Lulay, Ute Mahler and ­Werner Mahler, Ken Ohara, Heinrich Riebesehl, August Sander, Ramona Schacht, ­Giorgio Sommer, Andrzej ­Steinbach, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Amin Yousefi, and ­others employ subtle humor, express trenchant solidarity, or aim for ­analytical ­acumen. Essays by Linda Conze, Miriam Homer, Sara Kopelman, Mira Anneli Naß, Ulrike Pilarczyk, Jakob Schnetz, a conversation between Cate Lartey and Clarisse Akouala are outlining art-historical, photo-historical and ethnological perspectives.