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The photographic exhibition 36 aus 100

In its centennial year, Leica Camera shows an exclusive selection of iconic Leica photographs
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This year, Leica Camera AG is celebrating 100 years of Leica photography. On the occasion of this special anniversary, the company is presenting a unique photo installation with the title 36 aus 100 (‘36 from 100’) at its new headquarters at Leitz Park in Wetzlar. The exhibition will be officially opened during the festivities at the inauguration of the new Leica company headquarters on 23 May 2014.

 

The photographic project 36 aus 100 shows a total of 36 iconic examples of Leica photography from the past 100 years. The subjects selected wrote photographic history and contributed to the legendary reputation of the Leica brand. All photos in the exhibition were captured with Leica cameras and illustrate the specific aesthetics of 35 mm photography. The exhibition shows photographs by prominent photographers that played a special role in the work of the respective artists. Convincing in a formally aesthetic sense, clearly structured or complex in composition, surprising and astonishing – in short, pictures that highlight and emphasise the significant role of Leica in the development of our visual consciousness. The curator of the exhibition is Hans-Michael Koetzle. As a freelance writer, publicist and former editor-in-chief of Leica World, he possesses enormous expertise in the field of artistic photography. He was assisted in the coordination of the project by Tina Wiesner, who is responsible for cultural projects at Leica Camera AG.

 

Many famous photographers in the past decades embraced the compact and conveniently mobile Leica camera as their tool of preference and used it in the creation of valuable eyewitness records of contemporary history. Amongst them was the legendary Henri Cartier-Bresson, who became the owner of his first Leica in 1932. His work will be featured in the 36 aus 100 exhibition, along with photographs by numerous other Leica photographers. Alongside René Burri, Inge Morath, Marc Riboud, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Lebeck, Bruce Gilden, Martine Franck and many others, the photo installation also shows iconic images that profoundly changed our view of events from around the world. Including, for instance, Robert Capa’s Falling Soldier from the Spanish Civil War, the famous portrait of the Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara by Alberto Korda, Pulitzer Prize winner Nick Út’s photo of the young girl, Kim Phúc, fleeing burnt and naked after a napalm attack during the Vietnam War, and the photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt from 1945 that captured the joy of the victory over Japan in World War II on VJ day in New York’s Times Square. In addition to these, exhibition visitors will also have an opportunity to see examples of the first photographs captured with the Ur-Leica, including one made by Ernst Leitz II on a business trip to the USA in the summer of 1914 and a picture of the flooding in Wetzlar by Oskar Barnack, the inventor of the Leica, taken in 1920.

 

The exhibition 36 aus 100 will be a permanent installation for an initial period of one year and will be constantly expanded with new iconic photographs. The photographic project will be enhanced by the installation of touchscreen terminals that provide visitors with detailed information about the individual exhibits and their photographers.

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Leica Camera – A Partner for Photography

Leica Camera AG is an international, premium manufacturer of cameras and sports optics. The legendary reputation of the Leica brand is based on a long tradition of excellent quality, German craftsmanship and German industrial design, combined with innovative technologies. An integral part of the brand's culture is the diversity of activities the company undertakes for the advancement of photography. In addition to the Leica Galleries and Leica Akademies spread around the world, there are the Leica Hall of Fame Award and, in particular, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA), which is considered one of the most innovative sponsorship awards existing today. Furthermore, Leica Camera AG, with its headquarters in Wetzlar, Hesse, and a second production site in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal, has a worldwide network of its own national organisations and Leica Retail Stores.