Paul Niedermayer's DB Exhibition at Kunstverein Freiburg Features Train Journey Photographs

Paul Niedermayer presents DB, his first solo institutional exhibition at Kunstverein Freiburg, running through 2 November 2025. The show comprises 30 color photographs taken over two years aboard Deutsche Bahn trains, focusing on Bordrestaurant tabletops as sites of transient leisure. Works like No. 3644 and No. 1189 depict drained beer glasses and coffee cups, capturing remnants left by anonymous travelers. Niedermayer employs both smartphone snapshots and arranged studio shots with a mirrorless full-frame camera, printed in sizes of 36 × 53.5 cm or 48 × 36 cm and displayed in white frames across three gallery walls. A lens filter creates blurred motion effects, evoking speed and recalling Gerhard Richter's painterly distortions of memory. References to Bernd and Hilla Becher and the Düsseldorf School highlight a concern with content versus form, challenging contemporary photographic trends. Four exceptions to the numerical titling include pieces like Throwing Ten Dice on My Desk, which subtly diverge from the train setting. The exhibition reflects on Germany's declining rail infrastructure while exploring structure as essential to meaning in photography.