Objectivités: Düsseldorf Photography from Becher to Present at MAM Paris

The exhibition 'Objectivités' at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (October 4, 2008 – January 4, 2009) surveys Düsseldorf photography from the 1960s onward, centered on the concept of objectivity as taught by Bernd Becher at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (1976–1996). With Hilla Becher, he explored systematic documentation of industrial architecture from 1959, emphasizing strict protocols and seriality. The show includes works by their students—Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, Petra Wunderlich—and other photographers like Katharina Sieverding, Klaus Mettig, Laurenz Berges, Elger Esser, Simone Nieweg, and Jörg Sasse. It also features Gerhard Richter's Atlas and Sigmar Polke's alchemical images, alongside Hans-Peter Feldmann and Lothar Baumgarten, to expand beyond Becher's legacy. The curators (Maria Müller, Isabelle Malz, Emmanuelle de l'Ecotais, Anne Dressen) argue that objectivity has mutated: later works, such as Ruff's pixelated internet images and Sieverding's monumental composites, treat the image itself as subject. The catalog includes an essay by Erik Verhagen. Notably, the exhibition omits Joseph Beuys despite his influence, and the market impact of large formats (especially Gursky) is not analyzed.