Joachim Diederichs (journalist)

Joachim Diederichs (born November 17, 1924 in Berlin ; † September 21, 2010 there ) was a German photojournalist .

Live and act

Passionate about photography since April 1936, Joachim Diederichs quickly made a name for himself as a freelance photo journalist from 1947 and was one of the leading representatives of reportage photography in Berlin , especially in the 1950s and 1960s . In addition to the photo report on the current day's events, Diederichs regularly created photo series during this time - often with text contributions - on a wide variety of topics for magazines like them , Radio-Revue (the radio program magazine in Ullstein-Verlag for the West Berlin station RIAS ), Brigitte or for daily newspapers like the Berliner Morgenpost and the BZ One focus of his work was the photo reportage of current political events, rallies and demonstrations. From July to November 1950 Diederichs was imprisoned for 99 days at the SSD in Mahlow because he had tried to make a photo report about the no man's land at Düppel station . Among his numerous photos of politicians such as Ernst Reuter , Konrad Adenauer , John F. Kennedy and Willy Brandt, his portrait of a "silent conversation" between Theodor Heuss and the former Reich Minister Rudolf Wissell is one of the most printed photos. From 1954 to 1990, Joachim Diederichs accompanied photography a. a. the work of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB) , Berlin district, and the German Employees' Union (DAG) . His photos of a May Day rally, which he took from an elevated position after the speeches of the crowds approaching him, became very well known.

Diederichs also worked in the field of advertising photography and was one of the in-house photographers for AEG , Telefunken and Philips for a long time . At the same time, for example, he also regularly illustrated the brochures for the health resort administration on the North Sea island of Helgoland . Joachim Diederichs photographed the prominent guests during the first years of the Berlin International Film Festival as well as from 1955 to 1957 the construction stages of the individual new buildings of Interbau in Berlin's Hansaviertel . From 1951 he also worked for the Berlin exhibitions for four decades , from 1970 AMK Berlin - Ausstellungs-, Messe-, Kongreß-GmbH (since 1992: Messe Berlin ). Here he continuously documented almost all exhibitions and trade fairs such as the German Industrial Exhibition , the Green Week , the International Radio Exhibition Berlin , water sports and weekend and subsequent boat and leisure exhibitions , the Interchic fashion fair and many others. From 1975 to 2003 he also worked continuously for the IHK Berlin . Since the post-war period, Joachim Diederichs has mainly worked with medium format cameras like the Hasselblad .

Association work

Since November 1, 1948, Joachim Diederichs was a member of the then Berlin press association. In its successor organization, the German Association of Journalists (DJV) , founded in Berlin in 1949 , he was a member of the Berlin State Association. a. 1966–1974 member of the admission committee and 1981–1995 member of the board as an assessor. 1982–1992 he was also the chairman of the picture committee (now: FA Photojournalism). “During this time, Joachim Diederichs not only agreed a fee-based wage agreement with Messe Berlin for press photographers, but also with the press office of the State of Berlin for the rights of use of press photos, thereby ending the use of press photographers by arbitrarily determining the rights of use by state institutions Berlin. He also vigorously advocated the rights of his fellow photographers vis-à-vis the police authorities and did not shy away from a dispute with the police chief when it came to obstacles to image reporting by police officers . Until his death he belonged to the court of honor of the DJV Berlin.

Honors

• On January 18, 1981, Joachim Diederichs was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon.
• Joachim Diederichs was an honorary member of the German Association of Journalists, Landesverband Berlin.

Film about Joachim Diederichs

• A job with 100 things. The work of the Berlin photo journalist Joachim Diederichs . WDR television, director: Klaus Plumecke, production 444381, first broadcast: November 11, 1966.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Arrested by "Volkspolizei" , in: Der Abend , 5th vol., No. 176 v. July 31, 1950; In cell 1 , in: Der Abend , vol. 5, no. 177, August 1, 1950; Free after 99 days , in: Der Abend , Vol. 5, No. 259, November 4, 1950
2. ^ DJV Berlin News of September 27, 2010