The Gift of the Private: East German Snapshots, 1945 – 1989

DDR Knipser/ Autoren

The exhibition presents examples from the nearly inexhaustible treasure trove of private snapshots: traces of ‘snapshooters’ in the territory of the GDR. The broad spectrum of private life is defined here, as in all industrial nations at that time, by perennial motifs such as ‘holidays’, ‘friends and couples’, ‘festivities and leisure time’, ‘people and their material acquisitions’, and above all ‘family’. Nevertheless, the question that arises is whether or not the social conditions in the GDR gave rise to specific motifs, for example, ‘the border’, ‘reconstruction and work’ and, at the end, ‘the collapse of Communism’. Those Dieter Hacker dubbed ‘dresser drawer photographers’ were not yet aware of today’s shift from the private to the public. But what traditionally distinguishes the private snapshot from other images are the personal memories, feelings and ideas connected with it, which make it a window on a bygone world. Since the photographers almost always wanted to depict a successful life and happy moments, they gave a gift to themselves and to their private surroundings. And in hindsight, the ‘snapshooter’ sometimes also appears as an ‘accidental artist’ (Enno Kaufhold). Stefan Raum