The exhibition Peter Lindbergh: Untold Stories , self-curated by the photographer himself shortly before his death in 2019, is presented for the first time in Spain next December 4.
A Coruna will be the city that hosts this exhibition, which can be visited until February 28, 2022 in the city port, specifically in the Dock of the Battery.
The retrospective arrives in Galicia thanks to the collaboration of the Peter Lindbergh Foundation –directed by Benjamin Lindbergh, son of the photographer– and the personal commitment of Marta Ortega , friend of Lindbergh and faithful admirer of his work.
More than 150 images make up an impressive journey through the four decades of the photographer's career, through whose lens they passed some of the faces that would mark the history of fashion forever.
We cannot think of a better tribute to the photographer than this November he would be 77 years old , that Peter Lindbergh: Untold Stories (free entrance).
Peter Lindbergh.
THE PHENOMENON OF THE 'TOP'
Telling stories, capturing moments, transmitting a message... There are many reasons that lead a person to make photography your way of life.
However, there is one that surely everyone shares: immortalize a historical event. That is precisely what Peter Lindbergh (1944-2019) achieved: documenting one of the most important milestones in the history of fashion: the rise of '90s models, whom he transformed into 'Supermodels'.
From then on, names like Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Milla Jovovich and Tatjana Patitz they would always carry the term 'top' in front of them and become the symbol of a decade.
The German photographer also immortalized personalities from the world of cinema and music such as Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman, Penelope Cruz and Rosalia. Always without artifice, almost always in black and white.
Peter Lindbergh redefined the concept of beauty betting on naturalness, for this reason, in addition to the forerunner of the 'top model' phenomenon , he is considered a substantial defender of the actual beauty.
His work has been exhibited in solo and group shows around the world, including Images of Women (1996) at the Bunkamura Museum of Art in Tokyo (which also passed through Berlin, Vienna, Rome and Moscow); Stories Supermodels, at the Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen, Germany (2003); Visioni, at FORMA - Centro Internazionale di Fotografia in Milan (2006); Beauduc, in Les Rencontres d'Arlès (2008); Unknown, at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2011); The Unknown and Images of Women, at the HDLU Museum, Zagreb (2014); either Peter Lindbergh/Garry Winogrand: Women on the Street, at the NRW-Forum in Düsseldorf (2017).
MUCH MORE THAN FASHION
“The first time I saw my photographs on the walls of the exhibition model, I was startled, but in a good way. It was overwhelming to face who I am like that. The exhibition allowed me rethink my images in a non-fashion context. The montage aims to open the photographs to different interpretations and perspectives , the photographer stated in 2019 about the exhibition.
“However, I do not claim that my images are not fashion photography, that would not be true either. I insist on the definition of “ fashion photography" because for me that term does not mean that one has to represent fashion: photography is much bigger than fashion, it is a part of contemporary culture” Lindbergh concluded.
The more than 150 images that make up the exhibition, taken between the early 1980s and 2019 , allow the visitor to approach the work of the legendary photographer from new perspectives.
Peter Lindbergh.
When Peter visited A Coruña in 2018, “the connection between the port city and its aesthetic resonated with him immediately” , comment Benjamin Lindbergh. “Galicia's gray weather and choppy surf, intertwined with the ubiquitous industrial backdrop, seemed a perfect analogy with the Ruhr region, where my father grew up, in Germany”.
And he continues: “In such a place, where the force of nature and the force of humanity come together in harmony, Untold Stories would fit almost perfectly, the last exhibition he worked on and, most likely, the most personal project of him. On behalf of the Peter Lindbergh Foundation, I am immensely grateful to Marta Ortega for allowing Untold Stories to be exhibited in her city and May Peter's legacy reach the people of Galicia and beyond”.
Naomi Campbell, Ibiza, 2000.
Marta Ortega, personal friend of Peter Lindbergh -Who even took care of the photographs of his wedding - believes that the photographer and Galicia share many similarities: “the wild nature, the natural beauty and that human warmth that makes us feel alive”.
“For me it is a privilege to be able to bring them together. And it's something I do for the sole purpose of people from A Coruña, Galicians, Spaniards, and travelers from anywhere in the world who visit this wonderful land, can enjoy for free of this exquisite exhibition that Peter prepared down to the last detail before his untimely death” continues Ortega.
The Spanish businesswoman hopes, and firmly believes, "that this will be just the beginning for many people who, when they discover Peter's world, they will fall in love with the images of him and they will be interested in knowing the figure of him more in depth ”.
Querelle Jansen, Paris, 2012.
Peter Lindbergh: Untold Stories will occupy a converted industrial warehouse in the port area of A Coruña, in an architectural intervention directed by Elsa Urquijo.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a special edition of Taschen's book Untold Stories, an XL volume that offers a deep and first-hand look at a very personal collection made up of iconic Lindbergh snapshots but also for many other unpublished or little known photographs , usually commissioned by monthly fashion magazines like fashion –Anna Wintour chose him to shoot her first cover as editor of Vogue USA– , Harper's Bazaar, Interview, Rolling Stone and W Magazine, or by The Wall Street Journal.
In addition, the publisher has just launched Raw Beauty , a new work that includes interviews and images of some of Lindbergh's best-known characters, such as Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Penelope Cruz and Rosalia –, Gathered to celebrate his life; essays by some of the famous creative figures who have made Galicia their home –such as the photographer Nick Knight and the architect David Chipperfield – as well as the poetry and landscape photography of the Galician artist Manuel Vilarino.
PRACTICAL DATA
Address: Battery Pier, s/n (A Coruña)
Schedules: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (last entry at 7 p.m.); Thursday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (last admission at 8 p.m.) and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (last admission at 7 p.m.).
Free entrance.