Review by Choice Review
The Dusseldorf School of Photography, which emerged in the mid-1970s, consists of photographers who studied under Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf. This German movement derives from the influential work and ideas of the Bechers as to what a contemporary photography should address and how to do it. Although the Bechers' students owe their insights to their teachers, over the years they have charted directions of their own. This work by Gronert, curator of graphics at the Kunstmuseum Bonn, provides background and history and details each photographer's style and evolution. The text is informative but shows a certain lack of reference to work going on simultaneously in the international field. In addition to a large portfolio of the Bechers' work, the book provides ten portfolios of key students, including Andreas Gursky, Candida Hofer, Thomas Ruff, Jorg Sasse, and Thomas Struth. These are well selected, and the color reproductions are superb. Also included are individual artist's chronologies and selected bibliographies. Originally published in Germany, this book concisely sums up this group. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers. P. C. Bunnell emeritus, Princeton University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
