On Thursday the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation will open its ”We love photography!” exhibition. It showcases around 130 works by 56 artists from the Art Collection Deutsche Börse. The exhibition was curated by UK artist and collector Martin Parr and will run from 1 February until 24 May 2019 at The Cube, the corporate headquarters of Deutsche Börse, in Eschborn near Frankfurt.

In 2019, the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Art Collection Deutsche Börse with a large number of exhibitions and events. Under the theme “From another perspective”, it invited experts to share their views on this important collection of contemporary photography. This selection provides a varying, multifaceted glimpse into the primary artistic styles found in the Art Collection Deutsche Börse. The programme will be kicked off by Martin Parr, considered one of the most important personalities of contemporary photography. Martin Parr is a member of the acclaimed photographic cooperative Magnum Photos, a curator and collector.

“After two decades of collecting photography, we have seized the opportunity presented by the anniversary to cast a fresh look at the extensive body of works and its history. Martin Parr’s endeavour in “We love photography!” has proved to be remarkably successful. In this exhibition, new and exciting dialogues are emerging between different positions, enabling us to look at them from another perspective”, said Anne-Marie Beckmann, Director of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, who has been principally responsible for the collection from its inception.

The exhibition gives an insight into Parr’s view of the medium as well as into the qualities which make the collection stand out: artists dealing with the changes resulting from social and political developments and with the traces these developments leave behind. How they make this visible and tangible in their work varies just as much as their origin, their age and how they perceive themselves as artists, with approaches ranging from those which depict and describe through to artistic experimentation. But what connects all the works is that they deal with and explore the “conditio humana”, that they explore the conditions of human existence and its place in the world. The human person is the key theme, whether they are visible or not.

“The Art Collection Deutsche Börse and the images I have selected are as comprehensive as they are diverse; most major developments in photography of the recent past are found here. All persuasions and genres are represented – we see very familiar names while also discovering lesser-known artists with impressive works. All of the images in this exhibition make it very easy to understand “We love Photography!””, commented Martin Parr on his selection of works.

“We love photography!” unites classics from the history of photography such as those by Walker Evans or Diane Arbus, whose importance and explosive visual power are no less pronounced today than they were at the time of their creation and who have proven to be trailblazers for contemporary photography. Major positions of documentary photography, for example by Bruce Davidson, Philip Jones Griffiths and Susan Meiselas, are also on show. They demonstrate that works of museum quality are created not only where photographs are produced for the art market or the museum wall, but also, and above all, by photojournalists who are mainly employed in the world of news. The exhibition also makes reference to a large number of new developments and rediscoveries of contemporary photography and, through positions by artists such as Mike Brodie, Beate Gütschow and Lucas Folia, it puts the work of the younger generation on display.

The Art Collection Deutsche Börse now comprises more than 1,800 works by 126 international artists and reflects almost all the relevant currents within contemporary photography of recent decades.

List of artists:
Diane Arbus; Jessica Backhaus; Peter Bialobrzeski, Werner Bischof; Anna and Bernhard Blume; Mike Brodie; Joachim Brohm; Gerd Danigel; Bruce Davidson; John Davies; Phillip-Lorca diCorcia; Nikos Economopoulos; Mitch Epstein; Walker Evans; Peter Fischli and David Weiss; Lucas Foglia; Paul Fusco; Alberto García Alix; Geert Goiris; David Goldblatt; Paul Graham; Philip Jones Griffiths; Andreas Gursky; Beate Gütschow; Jitka Hanzlová; Thomas Hoepker; Evelyn Hofer; Roni Horn; Pieter Hugo; Seydou Keïta; Dana Lixenberg; Vivian Maier; Susan Meiselas; Boris Mikhailov; Richard Mosse; Zanele Muholi; Simon Norfolk; Arnold Odermatt; Gordon Parks; Heinrich Riebesehl; Simon Roberts; Malte Sänger; Sebastião Salgado; Pentti Sammallahti; Jörg Sasse; Wilhelm Schürmann; Alfred Seiland; Stephen Shore; Malick Sidibé; Gunnar Smoliansky; Joel Sternfeld; John Stezaker; Thomas Struth; Joseph Szabo; Guy Tillim; Tobias Zielony

A free guidebook accompanying the “We love photography!” exhibition containing detailed information on all artists featuring in the exhibition has been produced.

The twentieth anniversary of the Art Collection Deutsche Börse will this year be marked by a series of special events and projects as well as an international programme of exhibitions. Following the current exhibition, from May 2019 onwards, works from the collection will be presented under the title “Changing views – 20 Years Art Collection Deutsche Börse” by the Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam.

We will be happy to send you press images for “We love photography!” in printable quality on request.

Information for visitors:
The exhibitions at The Cube, the headquarters of Deutsche Börse, can be visited free of charge as part of a guided tour. Please book in advance. The dates of public guided tours and the current exhibitions are available here.

Additional dates for groups are available by arrangement.

Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation

The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation is a Frankfurt-based non-profit organisation. The foundation activities focus on collecting, exhibiting and promoting contemporary photography. Deutsche Börse began to build up its collection of contemporary photography in 1999. Art Collection Deutsche Börse now comprises more than 1,800 works by over 126 international artists. Expanding the Art Collection Deutsche Börse is one of the key aims of the foundation. The collection and a changing exhibition programme are open to the public. Together with The Photographers' Gallery in London, the foundation awards the renowned Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize each year. The promotion of young artists is a special concern of the foundation. It supports them in the form of awards, scholarships, exhibitions and cooperations with other institutions, such as the Foam Talents Programme of the Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam. Other focal points include supporting exhibition projects of international museums and institutions, and the expansion of platforms for academic discussion about the medium.
Further information is available at www.deutscheboersephotographyfoundation.org.