Peter Weller (photographer)
Peter Weller (born June 2, 1868 in Hommelsberg , Westerwald , † January 6, 1940 in Düsseldorf ) was a German photographer and entrepreneur. Weller systematically captured industry, agriculture and the people of the Siegerland at the beginning of the 20th century. With the posthumous rediscovery of his work by Bernhard and Hilla Becher and the exhibition of his photographs at documenta 6 (1977) among the greats of photo history, he and his photographs became internationally known.
After attending elementary school in his place of birth, Weller began to work as a dump boy on the nearby Bindweide mine . After that he worked in the mine office. He later worked in the Krupp mine administration in Kirchen (Sieg) , later in Betzdorf . In 1903 Weller moved from Kirchen to Betzdorf, where he occasionally ran a business school as a part-time job. According to literature, he was probably only concerned with photography shortly after 1900. In 1910 he published 50 of his photos at an agricultural exhibition in Altenkirchen , at which point he was already an accomplished photographer. In 1913 he contributed photos to the "Essen Sauerland Exhibition". For the 1915 planned exhibition on the 100th anniversary of the Siegerland belonging to Prussia, he took photographs. However, the war prevented the exhibition. He recorded these events in Betzdorf. These were Weller's last photographic works. In 1919 Peter Weller moved to Lüdenscheid , where he took over the management of the Lüdenscheider Central Theater until 1923. In 1933 he moved to Düsseldorf, where he took over a movie theater. In 1937 Weller founded the company "Central-Theater Weller & Co.", in which his children joined as partners after his death in 1941. Weller died at the age of 71 on January 6, 1940. He had been married since 1899 and had a son (* 1902) and a daughter (* 1905).
At Documenta 6 in 1977 eight of his photographs of mines and smelters were exhibited in large format, which Bernhard and Hilla Becher had made available. In the catalog of this largest European art exhibition you can find the adjoining photo of the Marienhütte in Eiserfeld.
In 2007 the mining museum of the Altenkirchen district showed a special exhibition with 60 von Wellers photographs on the subject of mining in the Siegerland. In 2011 the Siegerland Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Wellers presented pictures as part of the exhibition "In the land of ore mines, ironworks and Hauberge" in Siegen. Pictures from this exhibition were shown in 2015 in cooperation with the Altenkirchen district in the local district administration. In 2017, Weller's photos were included in the exhibition “Industry as Motif” of the Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur in Cologne. In May 2018 the walzWERKwisen will be presenting photographs by Peter Weller in the exhibition "The Clear View" in Wissen (Sieg). On the occasion of the 150th birthday of Peter Weller, the Betzdorf-Gebhardshain Association is showing for the first time enlargements of the original contact prints by Peter Weller with motifs from the Altenkirchen district in the anniversary exhibition in Gebhardshain.
At the turn of the year 2017/18, for the anniversary year of Weller's 150th birthday, an extensive illustrated book was published, with which Weller's work is presented and explained for the first time in its entire thematic and stylistic breadth. Previously, modern prints of the original glass plates were always used as a template, but for the first time previously unknown historical original prints by Weller from an extensive private collection could be used here.
Individual evidence
- ^ Documenta 6 - catalog volume 2 (photography, film, video), Kassel 1977, pp. 82–83.
- ↑ Lindlein, Peter: With Peter Weller in the Altenkirchen district 100 years ago. Pictures at an exhibition with 100 pictures by Peter Weller. iCee, Frankfurt 2017, ISBN 978-3-9817020-2-6 , pp. 180 .
literature
- Winfried Ranke / Gottfried Korff: Hauberg and iron - agriculture and industry in Siegerland around 1900 - photographs by Peter Weller . Verlag Schirmer / Mosel, Munich 1980. ISBN 3-921375-26-6 .
- Siegerländer Heimat- und Geschichtsverein e. V. (Ed.) In the land of ore mines, ironworks and Hauberge - On the way with the photographer Peter Weller , Vorländer Verlag, Siegen 2011. ISBN 978-3-923483-73-0 .
- Lindlein, Peter (ed.), In cooperation with the Altenkirchen district archive and the Siegerland Heimat- und Geschichtsverein. - With Peter Weller in the Altenkirchen district 100 years ago. Pictures at an exhibition with 100 pictures by Peter Weller. iCee Frankfurt 2017, 180 pages, ISBN 978-3-9817020-2-6 ; 2nd edition in a smaller format as a special edition for the 150th birthday of Peter Weller; iCee Frankfurt 2018, 140 pages, ISBN 978-3-9817020-3-3
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Weller, Peter |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German photographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 2, 1868 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hommelsburg , Rhineland-Palatinate |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 6, 1940 |
| Place of death | Dusseldorf |