Fritz Brill

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fritz Brill (born July 1, 1904 in Hanover , † September 13, 1997 in Hofgeismar ) was a German photographer .

life and work

Brill first learned to be a businessman, then attended the arts and crafts school and the Ittenschule in Berlin. Since the early 1930s, he made a living in Berlin from photography, which he had taught himself.

After the end of the Second World War he lived in Hofgeismar . From 1945 to 1949 he created series of art photographs in which he contrasted natural forms and artificial objects. The pictures were shown in 1949 by the later Documenta founder Arnold Bode in the Hessisches Landesmuseum Kassel .

Around 1950, Brill founded the "Institute for Photoanalysis" with which he worked for advertising and industrial customers. He quickly became an expert in “photographing the invisible in real life without the aid of animated drawings”. As with his art photographs, he staged “synthetic images” that provided insights into details and processes that were previously difficult to depict. “Unlike the classic photomontage, in which heterogeneous image elements of different origins are fused, Brill's montages were created during the photographic recording, in which he placed objects on several image planes, each separately illuminated and backlit, and merged them with back projections - almost an anticipation of today's Photoshop montages. "

Brill also used this ability in film from 1951 and expanded his institute into one of the leading studios and laboratories for high-speed and slow-motion recordings. He had recognized “that photoanalysis will only become such when I plan the technology of moving images, cinematography. It is not enough to make a fait accompli, it must be possible to make the processes themselves visible, such as the emergence of a disruptive factor within a procedural process. ”Until the early 1960s, Brill - mainly as a trick cameraman - worked on some documentaries. and industrial films, some of which were full-length. In 1957 he received the German Film Prize for the best color film camera work in the film Creation without End .

In 1980 the "Institute for Photoanalysis", at that time already under the leadership of his son, filed for bankruptcy.

Brill's photographic life's work is generally recognized today. On the occasion of Brill's 100th birthday, Floris M. Neusüss , Professor of Experimental Photography, pointed out that the artist Brill was always visible in advertising and industrial photos: “In any case, Fritz Brill created new things with photography in all of his phases of work with photography 'by not using the medium to reproduce what he saw, but as a third eye that does not remain an imperfect complement to the human eye, but rather looks beyond its gaze. And what it sees there was used by Brill as material for creative design. ”Numerous photos of him can be found in public collections, individual prints are traded on the art market and are part of a traveling exhibition on 20th century art photography.

Movies

  • Silkworms (documentary 1951)
  • On its own (documentary 1953; director: Franz Schroedter): camera (with others)
  • The housewife's hobbyhorse (1954 documentary)
  • Creation without End / Research and Life (Documentary 1956; Director: Karl G'schrey): Special-Effects-Camera
  • Impulse of our time (documentary 1959, director: Otto Martini ): Optical effects
  • Schach den Motten / Wollschädlinge (short film 1960/1961): director, camera

Exhibitions and participation in exhibitions

  • Hessian secession. Kassel State Museum 1949.
  • The German photograph. Annual show 1958. Stuttgart 1957.
  • German photography after 1945. Kasseler Kunstverein, Fotoforum Kassel 1979.
  • From the Ittenschule Berlin 1926–1934. Gallery in the Trudelhaus Baden 1984.
  • Autumn exhibition of the Griffelkunst-Vereinigung. University Library Erfurt 2004.
  • Made in Berlin. Fritz Brill, Ewald Hoinkis. Gallery Kicken Berlin 2005.
  • Man Ray to Sigmar Polke. A special photography story. Municipal Gallery Delmenhorst 2006 / Municipal Gallery Bietigheim-Bissingen 2007/08

Works in public collections

Prices

Publications

  • Leica Photography in Advertising and Commerce. In: Heinrich Stockler (Ed.): The Leica in Professional Practice. Fountain Press, New York 1954, pp. 57-66.
  • Photo analysis. In: VDI reports. 41-47, 1959, p. 47.
  • Graphics, photography, analysis. Berlinische Galerie, Berlin 1982. (exhibition catalog)

Publication Holdings (Illustrator)

  • Janos Frecot (Ed.): Lichtseiten - The most beautiful pictures from the photographic collection of the Berlinische Galerie. Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1998.
  • Janos Frecot: Of gardens and houses, pictures and books. Texts 1968–1996. Berlinische Galerie, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3927873616 . (Contemporary Museum series, published by the Berlinische Galerie and Museumspädagogischer Dienst Berlin).
  • Otto M. Lilien: The history of industrial gravure printing from 1920–1970. Schmidt, Frankfurt am Main 1978.
  • Otto Mattschoss, Walter Boje (Ed.): Revolution in the invisible. Bayer, Leverkusen and Econ Düsseldorf, Vienna 1963.
  • Otto Steinert (Ed.): Subjective photography. Tape. 1. Auer Brothers, Bonn 1952.

literature

  • Petra Benteler (ed.): German photography after 1945. Kasseler Kunstverein, Fotoforum Kassel, Kassel 1979. (exhibition catalog)
  • German Society for Photography (ed.): From the sense and benefit of the German Society for Photography. DGPh, Cologne 1968. (Publication by the German Society for Photography; 11).
  • Magdalena Droste: From the Ittenschule Berlin 1926–1934. Galerie im Trudelhaus, Baden 1984 (exhibition catalog)
  • Gottfried Jäger: Memories of Fritz Brill (1904–1997). In: Bulletin. Announcements from the German Photographic Academy. Issue 14, 1998, p. 42.
  • Hans-Michael Koetzle: The Lexicon of Photographers 1900 to Today. Knaur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-426-66479-8 .
  • Theodore Menten: Advertising Art in the Art Deco Style. Dover, New York 1975.
  • Rolf Sachsse: Sketch for Fritz Brill. In: Photography. 3, H. 10/11, 1979, pp. 73-75.
  • Otto Steinert (Ed.): Subjective photography. An illustrated book of modern European photography. Brothers Auer, Bonn 1952.
  • Wolf Strache (ed.): The German photo. Annual show 1958. DSB, Stuttgart 1957. (Catalog)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ s. Pictures in: Thomas Friedrich: Berlin between the wars . New York: 1991, p. 90; Tilmann Buddensieg : Berlin 1900–1933. Architecture and design . New York 1987, p. 25
  2. ↑ a b c Neusüss (see web link)
  3. ↑ Das deutsche Lichtbild 1973, p. 190
  4. ↑ Industrial Photography 1952, p. 76
  5. ↑ Brill, quoted from Neusüss (see web link)
  6. ↑ s. German film awards from 1951 to today ( Memento of the original from October 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.deutsche-filmakademie.de
personal data
SURNAME Brill, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photographer
DATE OF BIRTH July 1, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Hanover
DATE OF DEATH September 13, 1997
Place of death Hofgeismar