Gert Koshofer

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Gert Koshofer (born December 20, 1936 in Düsseldorf ) is a German photo and film historian as well as a publicist in the field of photography and cinema .

Life

Gert Koshofer is the son of Erika Koshofer (née Tenschert, * 1909; † 1980) and Paul Koshofer (* 1909; † 2002). He spent his childhood and youth in Düsseldorf , Gengenbach ( Black Forest ) and Mülheim (Ruhr). Even as a child he loved going to the cinema and discovered his passion for photography at the age of 14 .

From 1958 he studied at the University of Cologne Law and was after the second State Examination ( Assessor jur.) Briefly in the local government operates. However, due to his enthusiasm for photography and film, he decided against a legal career. In 1960 he co-founded the “Society for Color Photographic Experiments” (GbR) in Mülheim (Ruhr) , which deals with experiments, comparative film tests and - through worldwide correspondence with manufacturers of color films - with the procurement of technical, historical and market information Color photography dealt. Since 1963, alongside his studies and profession, he has worked as a freelance writer for domestic and foreign photo and film magazines, mainly on the history, technology and market of color photography and color cinema . This included 1965–1968 and 1971 publications in the GDR specialist magazine “Bild und Ton”.

Gert Koshofer began his actual professional career in marketing at Agfa-Gevaert AG , Leverkusen , where from 1968 to 1977 he was responsible for the department he had set up for in-house publications (“series for photo and magnetic tape”, etc.).

In 1973 he and his family moved from Mülheim (Ruhr) to Bergisch Gladbach . From 1977 to 1997 he held the newly created position of General Secretary of the German Society for Photography (DGPh) based in Cologne , to which he was appointed in 1974 due to his publications on the history of photography and his academic training.

From the early 1970s he repeatedly visited the GDR out of interest in life, places and landscapes . There - after his first photographs from 1958 - he made more color photos , which were first printed in two text-picture volumes "Dresden" and "Potsdam" and around 1990 in paperbacks (see under "Works").

Through the first books, the All-German Institute in Bonn became aware of Gert Koshofer, acquired image rights and, from 1988, issued orders with lists of subjects to be photographed (buildings, monuments, sights). His eldest son, Nils Koshofer, supported him in completing these extensive tasks that took him throughout the GDR . Both also exhibited recordings that met with great interest before German unification.

After reunification , the approximately 2,000 duplicates from the All-German Institute were transferred to the holdings of the Federal Archives . Gert Koshofer later transferred the rights to use over 800 image scans to the image archive of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation , Berlin . The contacts and trips to the GDR earned him six Stasi files under the observation name "Assessor", some of which contain imprecise reports and hardly go into the photographer's work.

After his retirement , he continued to be associated with the DGPH on an honorary basis , including as chairman of the History & Archives section. In addition, together with his wife, the local politician Ingrid Koshofer , he continued to expand his journalistic activities under the agency name “Koshofer Texte & Fotos”.

Gert Koshofer has been giving lectures on the history and technology of color photography and color cinema in Germany and abroad, including the USA, since 1971. He is also a frequently booked speaker at photo exhibitions, as well as a consultant or interview partner for specialist articles as well as radio and television broadcasts on radio and television history ( ARTE , Deutschlandfunk , WDR , ZDF , FotoTV). With his daughter, the screenwriter and director Nina Koshofer he created in 2005 a 70-minute documentary on the origins and history of the UFA - the classic " Munchausen " which the DVD from the Transit was settled Classics Deluxe Edition.

He has worked as an author with accompanying publications and as a consultant at numerous film retrospectives : International Film Festival Berlin 1988 on color films, 1993 on CinemaScope films and in 2009 on 70mm wide films as well as in Düsseldorf , The Hague and Rotterdam . Since 1972 he has been giving lectures at conferences and at universities in Germany and abroad on current and historical topics in photography and film. His journalistic activities brought him invitations to factory visits to Tellko / CIBA (Switzerland), Gevaert (Belgium), VEB Filmfabrik Wolfen (GDR), Ferrania (Italy), Eastman Kodak (USA) and Polaroid (USA). He also met inventors like Dr. Wilhelm Schneider ( Agfacolor / Telcolor) and Leo Godowsky jun. (Kodachrome).

With correspondence documents, press releases and pamphlets from film manufacturers as well as specialist books and numerous slides, film boxes, advertisements, etc., Koshofer built up an extensive historical archive on color photography and color cinema. In 2017, part of his photographic history collection was acquired by the Deutsches Museum in Munich and has since been listed under the "Koshofer Collection for Color Photography": " The collection is an inventory that is unparalleled anywhere in the world ."

Gert Koshofer lives with his wife Ingrid Koshofer in Bergisch Gladbach. They have three grown children: Till Koshofer, Nina Koshofer and Nils Koshofer .

Works

Gert Koshofer published mostly in magazines and newspapers on historical and technical subjects of photography, cinema and television, color film tests as well as travel reports from the GDR and the new federal states (" Das goldene Blatt ", 1990–1995). Since 1963, this has also included regular international market overviews of films, photo papers and others, as well as reviews and interviews. Even after the breakthrough of digital photography, he was still concerned with analog technology. Out of consideration for his employers and because of the neutrality, some magazine articles and books ran under pseudonyms (Jürgen Florstedt, Robert Koziol, Bert Roberts, Robert Tenschert, Michael Simon).

Honors

  • Daguerre Medal from the Daguerre Club
  • Honorary membership of the Friends of the Wolfen Industry and Film Museum
  • Honorary membership of the German Society for Photography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gert Koshofer - 1 book - Perlentaucher. Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
  2. ^ Gert Koshofer: Late war and early post-war period in the north of Düsseldorf. S. 17. (No longer available online.) In: Der Derendorfer 12/13 57th year. W. Overkott Düsseldorf, December 2013, archived from the original on November 10, 2017 ; accessed on November 9, 2017 (German). 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.derendorferjonges.de
  3. ↑ The interview was conducted by Christian Leinweber: Interview: A game with light and shadow . In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger . ( ksta.de [accessed on November 9, 2017]).
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Jaworek: Rundbrief Fotografie: picture description, cover booklet 62. Retrieved on November 9, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Agfacolor - History of a Color Process | Topics | filmportal.de. Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Film screening: In conversation with Gert Koshofer . In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung . ( mz-web.de [accessed on November 9, 2017]).
  7. ↑ Dipl. Ing. Gert Redlich Wiesbaden: Fernsehmuseum1- You are in the area: Literature: Image and sound (East). Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
  8. ^ Magnetic Tape Museum - You are in the area: Agfa Tape Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Gert Koshofer Chronicle of important developments in the field of amateur photography with Agfa materials (chemistry and films) - PDF. Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Prof. Dr. Herta Wolf new chair of the DGPh section History and Archives | German Society for Photography. Accessed on November 9, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Germany today: an attempt at understanding a country /. Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
  12. ↑ History and Archives Section | German Society for Photography. Accessed on November 9, 2017 .
  13. ↑ District Administrator awards Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon - Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis. Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
  14. ↑ 15th Symposium on the History of Photography from October 21 to 23 in Rochester, USA | German Society for Photography. Accessed on November 14, 2017 .
  15. ↑ Movie nights. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 25, 2016 ; Retrieved November 9, 2017 . 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.film-fotomuseum.de
  16. ^ Christian Gödecke: Kodak-Kult: Hochglanz und Gloria . In: Spiegel Online . October 18, 2011 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 9, 2017]).
  17. ↑ - "Dad, why can't you have the pictures right away?" In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur . ( deutschlandfunkkultur.de [accessed on November 9, 2017]).
  18. ↑ 150 years of color photography. Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
  19. ↑ Events 2005 | Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum for Film and Television. Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
  20. ↑ Münchhausen ›CINEMUSIC.DE . January 1, 2006 ( cinemusic.de [accessed November 9, 2017]).
  21. ^ Film lecture by Gert Koshofer "Nature in Color Film - Natural Colors in Film". A filmic picture sheet. Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
  22. ↑ | Berlinale | Archive | Annual archives | 2009 | Press releases - Retrospective 70 mm - Bigger than Life: Completed film selection and accompanying program. Retrieved November 9, 2017 .
  23. ^ Wilhelm Füßl: New Acquisitions, p.4. In: Archive info, Volume 18 2017 - Issue No. 1. Deutsches Museum, 2017, accessed on November 9, 2017 (German).
  24. ↑ http://www.photolit.de/database/search.html?q=Koshofer,+Gert. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 10, 2017 ; Retrieved November 9, 2017 . 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.photolit.de
personal data
SURNAME Koshofer, Gert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photo and film historian and publicist in the field of photography and cinema
DATE OF BIRTH December 20, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Dusseldorf