Roger Melis

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roger Melis (born October 20, 1940 in Berlin ; † September 11, 2009 there ) was a German portrait, reportage and fashion photographer .

Life

Roger Melis was the son of the sculptor Fritz Melis . Melis grew up in the household of the poet Peter Huchel in the west of Berlin and from 1952 in Wilhelmshorst near Potsdam. Huchel was his stepfather. From 1957 to 1960 he completed an apprenticeship as a photographer and then went to sea as Moses for half a year . From 1962 he worked as a scientific photographer at the Berlin Charité . As part of an unrealized book project about divided Germany, the first portraits of poets and artists in East and West were created in 1962, first reports for Merian magazine from 1966 and first fashion photographs for Sibylle magazine from 1968 . Since 1968 he lived and worked with the fashion journalist Dorothea Bertram , whom he married in 1970. In 1968 he became a member of the Association of Visual Artists (VBK) and was admitted to freelance work. In 1969 he founded together with Arno Fischer , Sibylle Bergemann u. a. the photo group »Direct«. He was a co-initiator and since 1981 chairman of the Central Photography Working Group in the VBK and taught from 1978 to 1990 at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art .

Melis became known through his work as a fashion photographer for the magazine Sibylle and through his reportage photographs for the Neue Berliner Illustrierte , Wochenpost , Die Zeit , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Süddeutsche Zeitung and Geo , but above all through his haunting, from the beginning in East and West Recognized portraits of writers and artists such as Anna Seghers , Christa Wolf , Thomas Brasch , Wolf Biermann , Franz Fühmann , Heiner Müller or Sarah Kirsch . Because of a joint contribution with Erich Loest for the magazine Geo , he was no longer allowed to work for the GDR press from 1981 and concentrated on book and exhibition projects. With a total print run of 40,000 copies, his volume Paris on Foot became one of the most successful photo books in the GDR.

From 1989 he turned back to reportage and portrait photography (including for the Wochenpost , Die Zeit and the Süddeutsche Zeitung ). From 1993 to 2006 he was a photography teacher at the Berliner Lette-Verein .

A four-volume edition of the work has been published by Lehmstedt Verlag Leipzig since 2007 . With the volume In a Quiet Land , Melis was one of the first photographers from the East to present a comprehensive portrait of the GDR and its inhabitants and was recognized in numerous reviews as the “Master of East German Photo Realism” (Die Zeit). In 2008 a comprehensive collection of his artist portraits from 40 years followed, in 2010 the volume Am Rande der Zeit with photographs of village life in the GDR.

Roger Melis died at the age of 68 after a long and serious illness.

Roger Melis' grave in the Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof Berlin

Quotes

"Melis combines the registration severity of August Sander , the early portraitist of the German social class, with the graceful, artistic attention of Henri Cartier-Bresson for the sensations of everyday life."

- Peter von Becker , 2007

“The works of Roger Melis, black and white photographs, which in their clarity and structure are reminiscent of the thoughtful, careful composition of old paintings, show a different world and different people than the photos published in the state-controlled press. Melis knew how to wait until the gaze went into the open, the person became visible, he was with himself and showed himself. "

- Christoph Hein , 2007

“What his colleague Barbara Klemm , who was almost the same age , was for the West, Melis was - under much more difficult conditions - for the East: the outstanding figure among photographers of the war generation. It is noteworthy that neither of them attended any of the relevant universities, but instead started their professional work soon after their apprenticeship. Both have remained true to classic black and white photography, both are characterized by an astonishingly wide range of subjects and motifs and both were recognized relatively late in terms of their artistic quality. At Melis, the real fame has only started recently. "

- Michael Davidis, 2008

Works

Monographs

  • Roger Melis: Paris on foot. With a foreword by Stephan Hermlin . People and World, Berlin 1986
  • Roger Melis: Berlin - Berlin. Writer portraits from 30 years. Published by Michael Davidis. With a foreword by Klaus Völker. German Literature Archive , Marbach am Neckar 1992
  • Roger Melis with Oliver Schwarzkopf , Beate Rusch (Ed.): Wolf Biermann : expatriate. With digressive comments and important trifles from Wolf Biermann, introduced by an interview by Renate Oschlies and Michael Maier. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-89602-060-9 .
  • Roger Melis: London on foot. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 1999 ISBN 3-89602-313-6
  • Roger Melis: In a quiet land. Photographs 1964–1989. Lehmstedt, Leipzig 2007, 3rd edition 2009, ISBN 978-3-937146-52-2 .
  • Roger Melis: artist portraits. Photographs 1962–2002. Lehmstedt, Leipzig 2008, ISBN 978-3-937146-54-6 .
  • Roger Melis: On the edge of time. Photographs 1973–1989. Edited by Mathias Bertram. Lehmstedt, Leipzig 2010, ISBN 978-3-937146-70-6 .

Further book publications

  • Gerhard Wolf: Description of a room , Berlin: Union Verlag, 1971 (author)
  • Kurt Bartsch: Cadre files. Reinbek: Rowohlt, 1979 (author)
  • Poet in peace. Edited by Günter Drommer. Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag, 1985 (picture author)
  • Mecklenburg. A travel seducer. Rudolstadt: Greifenverlag, 1986 (picture author)
  • Look into the country. Edited by Günter Drommer and Roger Melis. Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag, 1989, and Neuwied: Luchterhand, 1989 (picture author)
  • Hidden reality. Fashion photos from the GDR. Vienna: University of Applied Arts, 1989 (series of images)
  • East sees West - West sees East. Germany in spring 1990. A photo documentation. Edited by Kurt Weidemann. Stuttgart: Cantz, 1990 (series of images)
  • Albrecht Börner: Rare craft. Berlin: Verlag der Nation, 1990 (picture author)
  • Ernst-Michael Brandt: The invisible border. Hamburg: Luchterhand, 1991 (picture author)
  • Heinrich Heine: The Harz journey. Berlin: Development of the paperback publishing house, 1992 (picture author)
  • Michael Gromm: Horno - a village wants to live. Berlin: Dietz Verlag, 1995 (picture author)
  • Heiner Müller - Pictures of a Life. Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 1996 (series of images)
  • Sibylle. Fashion photography. Edited by Dorothea Melis. Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 1998 (series of images)
  • Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts. A cross-section through history and training practice. Published by Klaus Völker. Berlin: 1994, 5th revised edition, 2005 (picture author)
  • Marlies crowd: walks. The series from the weekly newspaper »Die Zeit«. Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2000 (author)
  • The Berliner. Edited by Dorothea Melis. Berlin: Schwarzkopf and Schwarzkopf, 2000 (series of images)
  • Utopia and reality. East German photography 1956–1989. Edited by Norbert Moos. Bönen: Druckverlag Kettler, 2005 (series of images)
  • Sibylle. Fashion photographs 1962-1994. Edited by Dorothea Melis. Leipzig: Lehmstedt, 2010 (series of images)

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • Press photographs. Gallery Berlin, Berlin 1978.
  • Weissensee School of Art , Berlin 1979.
  • Gallery Sophienstrasse, Berlin 1984.
  • Photo gallery at Helsingsforser Platz, Berlin 1987. (Catalog)
  • Prenzlauer Berg and elsewhere - artist portraits. Galerie M, Berlin 1989. (catalog)
  • Poet in Berlin, Kulturbrauerei , Berlin 1993.
  • In a quiet land. Willy Brandt House , Berlin 2007; Contemporary History Forum, Leipzig 2008; Kunsthaus Meyenburg , Nordhausen 2009; BStU, Rostock 2009; City Library, Chemnitz 2009
  • Artist portraits. Galerie Argus Fotokunst, Berlin 2008; Lehmannsche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 2008; Granitz Hunting Lodge , Rügen 2008; Gleimhaus , Halberstadt 2009; EineArtGalerie, Rangsdorf 2012.
  • Photographs 1965–1989. Suermondt Ludwig Museum , Aachen 2009/10
  • Chronicler and flaneur. Retrospective. C / O Berlin , Berlin 2010.
  • The Sibylle Years. Fashion photography. Gallery for Modern Photography, Berlin 2012.

Participation in exhibitions (selection)

  • Group »Direct«, Potsdam 1969
  • Jewelry - Glass - Photography. Galerie im Turm, Berlin 1978 (joint exhibition with Rainer Grabowitz and Klaus Musinowski)
  • Second portrait photo show of the GDR, Dresden 1981. (Grand Prix and Prize of the Kulturbund der DDR)
  • IX. Art exhibition, Dresden 1982
  • That it moves ... Photo symposium and exhibition in Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz), 1985. (Limited image portfolio)
  • Xth art exhibition, Dresden 1987
  • Your own look. Critics' exhibition in the Ephraim-Palais , Berlin 1988
  • Three decades of fashion photography. Gallery at Helsingforser Platz, Berlin 1988
  • Hidden reality. Fashion photos from the GDR. University of Applied Arts , Vienna 1989
  • East sees West - West sees East. German Historical Museum , Berlin 1990. (Catalog)
  • Photography de l'Est. Musée de l'Elysee, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1990
  • Transitions - GDR photography. Eisenwerk, Frauenfeld, Switzerland, 1991
  • Berlin views: August 13, 1990. Goethe-Institut Berlin, 1991
  • Pictures of Germany II. Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin 1999
  • The Berliner. Willy Brandt-Haus, Berlin 2000 and Potsdam City Library 2001.
  • Dialogue. Photographic portraits 1900–1993. Art forum of the Grundkreditbank, Berlin 2002, and museum, Bad Aarolsen 2003.
  • Utopia and reality. East German pictures 1956–1989. Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin 2005, and Forum for Photography, Cologne 2005
  • Transition society. Portraits and scenes. 1970-1990. Academy of the Arts Berlin , 2009
  • Free within limits. Fashion photography underground. GDR 1979–1989. Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin , 2009
  • Sibylle. Fashion photography and images of women in the GDR. House of Brandenburg-Prussian History Potsdam, 2010
  • Eros and Stasi. East German Photography Collection Gabriele Koenig. Ludwig Forum for International Art Aachen , 2010
  • Closed society. Artistic photography in the GDR 1949–1989. Berlinische Galerie , 2012

literature

  • Axel Bertram: Taking photos without vanity . Weekly Post 4/1982.
  • Peter Voigt: The extremely banal moment . Sunday 31/1987, p. 5.
  • Ulrich Greiner : The photographs by Roger Melis. In: Die Zeit 23/1993. 4th June 1993 .;
  • Marlies crowd: a serenity that is contagious. In: Roger Melis: London on foot. Berlin 1999.
  • Hans-Dieter Schütt : Aid to the invention of the world. In: Roger Melis: London on foot. Berlin 1999.
  • Hans-Dieter Schütt: Don't be amazed how you see something. Marvel at what you saw. A biographical conversation with Roger Melis. In Roger Melis: London on foot. Berlin 1999, pp. 8-19.
  • Gunnar Decker : Forest workers - removed . In: Neues Deutschland , November 9, 2004
  • Kerstin Decker : Quiet days in Stegelitz. In: Der Tagesspiegel . November 16, 2004 .;
  • Birk Meinhardt : In the intermediate realm of pure life. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , April 16, 2007
  • Peter von Becker: The silence behind the wall. In: Der Tagesspiegel. June 3, 2007 .;
  • Christoph Dieckmann : Photography: Behind the time wall. In: The time. June 14, 2007 .;
  • Christoph Hein : Tales from a lost world. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. August 11, 2007 .;
  • Fritz Rudolf Fries: In another country. In: Neues Deutschland , October 6, 2007.
  • Marika Bent: A life rich in images. In: Märkische Allgemeine , November 10, 2007.
  • Michael Davidis: A classic in portrait photography . Literaturblatt Baden-Württemberg, Issue 2, March / April 2008.
  • Matthias Dell: The order of the pictures . Friday December 26, 2008.
  • Hans-Eberhard Hess: Where art is at home. In: Photo International , issue 5/2008.
  • Gunnar Decker: Show your face. New Germany, 19./20. April 2008.
  • Marika Bent: The power of tired looks. Light and shadow of the GDR in the artist portraits by photographer Roger Melis. In: Märkische Allgemeine. September 27, 2008, archived from the original on September 14, 2009 .;
  • Jürgen Verdofsky: The photographer of the east. In: Badische Zeitung . November 29, 2008 .;
  • Lisa Stocker: Roger and Dorothea Melis. A relationship portrait. In: Brigitte woman , issue 7/2009.
  • Peter von Becker: The eye of a country. C / O Berlin is showing the grandiose work of the GDR world photographer Roger Melis in a retrospective. In: Der Tagesspiegel , March 7, 2010.
  • Kerstin Decker : We? Man's return to the self: Speech at the opening of the retrospective in the gallery c / o berlin. In: Neues Deutschland , March 8, 2010.
  • Gabriela Walde: The Prussian Icarus. From everyday life in the GDR. In: Berliner Morgenpost , March 7, 2010; Die Welt, March 8, 2010.
  • Angela Hohmann: Finding your way into the familiar. In: Die Tageszeitung (taz) , March 24, 2010.
  • Lothar Müller: Chief behind glass. The art of hijacking the moment of one's presence. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , March 29, 2010.
  • Gustav Seibt: A telephone rings all alone. The photo book “At the Edge of Time”. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , December 7, 2010.
  • Ingeborg Ruthe: One who paused with the camera. (pdf, 855 kB) In: Berliner Zeitung. July 5, 2012, archived from the original on December 16, 2014 .;
  • Short biography for:  Melis, Roger . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roger Melis is dead. In: moz.de . September 11, 2009, accessed March 19, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Peter von Becker: Review: The silence behind the wall. In: Der Tagesspiegel . June 3, 2007, accessed March 19, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Christoph Hein : Tales from a sunken world. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. August 11, 2007, accessed March 19, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Michael Davidis: A classic of portrait photography: Michael Davidis presents Roger Melis. In: Literaturblatt für Baden und Württemberg , 2008, Issue 2, 16-17.
personal data
SURNAME Melis, Roger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photographer
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH September 11, 2009
Place of death Berlin