Starkly lit production halls, seemingly endless conveyor belts, wide grins on soot-smeared faces – there are promises at the heart of what are probably some of the better-known motifs of industrial photography: the prospect of more consumerism, more beautiful and better functioning products, a higher quality of work and living – in other words, progress. 

With the targeted implementation of commissioned photography, companies and businesses in West and East Germany created powerful narratives for a systematic representation both internally and externally. For the first time, these remarkable photographs are shown in an exhibition that examines their function in the context of how they were used at the time in the elaborately designed print media of the steel, chemical, textile and automotive industries. 

The exhibition is curated by Carola Jüllig and Stefanie Regina Dietzel.