Kai Wiedenhöfer

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Kai Wiedenhöfer
Wiedenhöfer in 2013
Born(1966-03-03)March 3, 1966
Schwenningen
DiedJanuary 9, 2024(2024-01-09) (aged 57)
Alma materFolkwang University of the Arts
Known forPhotography
AwardsW. Eugene Smith Grant
2002
Carl von Ossietzky Medal
2016
Websitekaiwiedenhoefer.com

Kai Wiedenhöfer (3 March 1966 – 9 January 2024) was a German photojournalist.[1][2] Two major subjects of his work were Palestinian life and separation barriers. Wiedenhöfer received the W. Eugene Smith Grant, the Carmignac Photojournalism Award and the Carl von Ossietzky Medal. He had a solo exhibition at the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris in 2010, documenting the consequences of Israel's war against Gaza.

Early life and education[edit]

Wiedenhöfer was born in Schwenningen, Schwarzwald-Baar district in southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany.[1] His mother was a pharmacist and his father a mechanic. He grew up in the countryside and after the death of his father in 1981, moved to a small town near Stuttgart.[3] He studied documentary photography and editorial design at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, graduating in 1995.[1]

Life and work[edit]

Wiedenhöfer documented Palestinian life for almost two decades, publishing the books Perfect Peace (2002), Wall (2007), and The Book of Destruction (2010). The latter book:

"is unquestionably about violence, documenting in almost unbearable detail the damage left after Israel's assault on Gaza in 2009. Unpeopled images of ruined buildings, photographed with an architectural precision, are contrasted with portraits of equally ruined people with truncated limbs and scarred bodies. His human subjects look into the camera, seated in their own homes".[4]

He spent decades photographing all the major separation barriers, including the Berlin Wall, the Israeli West Bank barrier, the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus, the Trump wall, the Baghdad Wall, and the peace lines in Belfast. He has said:

"One of the things that links all the walls and barriers is the insistence by those who build them that each wall is unique and that you cannot compare the different walls, [. . .] But the point I am trying to make is different. It's that what connects all these walls is a problem you cannot solve through negotiation, so you build a wall and make the problem worse."

The combination of the fall of one wall and construction of another inspired Wiedenhöfer to create Wall on Wall, a display of large images of the Israeli separation wall on the remnants of the Berlin Wall at the outdoor East Side Gallery; and later three dozen large images of barriers from around the world displayed on the peace lines in Belfast.[5][6][7][8]

In 2024, he died after a heart attack while cycling in Swabia, age 57.[1]

Publications[edit]

  • Perfect Peace: the Palestinians from Intifada to Intifada. Göttingen, Germany: Steidl, 2002. ISBN 3-88243-814-2.[4]
  • Wall. Göttingen, Germany: Steidl, 2007. ISBN 978-3-86521-117-0.[4][9]
  • Checkpoint Huwara. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2008. With Karin Wenger [de]. ISBN 978-3-7205-3077-4.
  • The Book of Destruction. Göttingen, Germany: Steidl, 2010. ISBN 978-3-86930-207-2.[4]
  • Confrontier: Borders: 1989–2012. Göttingen, Germany: Steidl, 2013. ISBN 978-3-86930-550-9.
  • Forty Out of One Million: the Human Cost of the Syrian War. MW Photoprojects, 2015.
  • Syrian Collateral. Dortmund, Germany: Kettler, 2016. German-language version. ISBN 978-3862065882.
  • Wall and Peace. Göttingen, Germany: Steidl, 2019.

Awards[edit]

Exhibitions[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Obituary: Kai Wiedenhöfer". LFI-Leica Fotografie International. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Zum Tod des Fotografen Kai Wiedenhöfer". Stern (in German). 16 January 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Biography Kai Wiedenhofer". Sharjah Art Foundation. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Beaumont, Peter (23 January 2011). "Kai Wiedenhöfer's The Book of Destruction: Gaza – One year After the 2009 War". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  5. ^ Beaumont, Peter (9 November 2019). "Symbols of failure: the deeper issue that connects border walls". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  6. ^ Roegiers, Brett (26 August 2015). "A world divided by walls". CNN. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  7. ^ Horne, Rebecca. "Panoramic Wall Photos Examine the World's Most Volatile Borders". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  8. ^ Sharma, Gouri. "From the streets of Kobane to the Berlin Wall". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  9. ^ "BBC News | In pictures: The barrier by Kai Wiedenhofer". BBC News. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  10. ^ "2002 Kai Wiedenhöfer PN3". World Press Photo. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  11. ^ "2002 Kai Wiedenhöfer". W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  12. ^ "2004 Kai Wiedenhöfer GNS2-EL". World Press Photo. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Carmignac award retrospective". BBC News. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  14. ^ Warner, Marigold. "Carmignac Photojournalism Award: 10 years of reportage". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Carl von Ossietzky Medal 2016 to SOS Méditerranée and the documentary photographer Kai Wiedenhöfer". International Federation for Human Rights. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  16. ^ Pfeiffer, Alice (3 December 2010). "Gaze of Gaza". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 29 March 2024.

External links[edit]

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