Hans Hansen (photographer)

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Hans Hansen (* 1940 in Bielefeld ) is a German photographer. He is an honorary member of the Association of Freelance Photo Designers (BFF) , a member of the Art Directors Club Germany (ADC) and an appointed member of the German Society for Photography (DGPh). Hansen has lived and worked in Hamburg since 1967.

education

Hansen trained as a lithographer and studied applied graphics at the State Art Academy in Düsseldorf under Walter Breker in the late 1950s . As a photographer, Hansen is self-taught . While photography was already a recognized part of design in North American advertising, the applied graphics class worked with graphic, but not with photographic means. However, because Hansen was interested in the connection between graphics and photography, he began taking the photographs he needed himself.

Hansen's fellow students included Hilla and Bernd Becher , who at that time were already taking photos of half-timbered houses. Hilla Becher initially led Hansen in the darkroom; Hansen later reported, however, that at the time he “did not understand at all what the Bechers did in terms of its consistency and meaning”.

After graduating from the academy, Hansen initially did not want to take photographs for advertising, but in Düsseldorf he met Jack Piccolo , a New York art director of the DDB agency , who, in discussions about individual photographs, helped Hansen to overcome his reservations about the medium of advertising.

plant

Hansen has been working as a freelance photographer since 1962.

In the mid-1960s, Hansen began taking photos for Lufthansa campaigns under advertising manager Hans G. Conrad . The work for the client Lufthansa lasted for decades; the airline later also adopted Hansen's typical style of food photography for its menu cards (Art Director: Klaus Wille ).

For many years, Hansen photographed chairs and other products for Vitra (including designs by Ray and Charles Eames and Verner Panton ), always with the same perspective, focal length and constant basic light and thus shaped an unmistakable, sober and documentary style of product photography . Hansen commented:

“[...] the chairs are comparable. This creates a kind of documentation from my point of view. There is no factual representation, since every type of photo is both documenting and interpretive at the same time. […] I see my job at ›Vitra‹ as helping to shape the company's image by repeating things in the same way over the years, thereby achieving a very specific expression. The documentary, factual depiction of the chair is initially of secondary interest to me. The interpretation of the chair is very personal. "

Hansen worked for many design-oriented companies and brands, including Akzo (today AkzoNobel ), ERCO , Franz Schneider Brakel (FSB), Siemens , Rasch brothers , Dibbern and Daimler-Benz , but also Sony , Bulthaup , American Express , Fiat , Perrier , Volkswagen , Porsche , Kodak , Joop and Jil Sander .

He also photographed reports and stills for Stern , Zeit Magazin , Max magazine and Süddeutsche Zeitung magazine as well as Harper's Bazaar , Vogue , Feinschmecker and Architektur & Wohnen .

In his own statements, Hansen refers to the traditions of the Ulm School of Design and the Bauhaus , because “the work there was always embedded in a personal attitude of the people. They pursued a certain idea and not fashion ”.

Others about Hansen

"He has developed a visual language that creates new perspectives and new forms through dissolution and abstraction."

- FC Gundlach

Awards

Works (selection)

  • Wolf Uecker : Germany your kitchens . Steinhagen 1988 (with photographs by Hans Hansen).
  • Wolf Uecker : The new German cookbook . Steinhagen 1990 (with photographs by Hans Hansen).

literature

  • Manfred Schmalriede (Ed.): What Germans wanted. 30 Years of Photography in Germany - 30 Years of the BFF . Hatje Cantz Publishers, Ostfildern-Ruit 1999, ISBN 3-7757-0870-7 (English-language, hardback edition. Book accompanying the BFF exhibition Zeitblick im Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe [Hamburg, 1999] and in the Stuttgart City Gallery [2000 ]).
  • Annette Kelm , Hendrik Schwantes (eds.): Hans Hansen: Atelier. Edition Camera Austria , Graz. 2017. Texts by Reinhard Braun and Anna Voswinckel, ISBN 978-3-902911-35-3
  • Felix Hoffmann, Hendrik Schwantes (ed.): Hans Hansen: Style Life. C / O Berlin and Spector Books. 2017. Texts by Felix Hoffmann, Juhani Pallasmaa, Hannes Böhringer, Falk Haberkorn, Axel Kufus, Hartmut Böhme and Anna Voswinckel, ISBN 978-3-95905-160-6

Web links

Individual evidence

97a  - Tammo F. ​​Bruns, Frank Schulte, Karsten Unterberger: design is a journey . Positions on design, advertising and corporate culture. Ed .: Hans Höger, German Design Council. Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 1997, ISBN 3-540-61896-1 , pp. 44–57 (conversation with Hans Hansen on January 15, 1995 in Hamburg).

  1. ↑ a b c d e f p. 44
  2. ↑ a b c p. 46
  3. ↑ Pages 51 f.
  4. ↑ Poster illustrations, p. 53
  5. ↑ Figures menu cards, p. 52
  6. ↑ a b c p. 48
  7. ↑ Figures Vitra, p. 49
  8. ↑ Four motifs from the Viscose series , p. 56
  9. ↑ Figure Zeitwand , p. 54
  10. ↑ Figures Finnish Glass , p. 51
  11. ^ Illustration from the corporate campaign from 1988, p. 57
  12. ↑ Figure on p. 47
  13. ↑ Figure Anonymes Design , p. 48 above
  14. ↑ Figure Personal items from celebrities , p. 48 center
  15. ↑ Figure Implants , p. 55
personal data
SURNAME Hansen, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photographer
DATE OF BIRTH 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Bielefeld