fotoform

Fotoform was founded in 1949 and until 1952 existing avant-garde group (West) German photographers. The founding members were Wolfgang Reisewitz, Toni Schneider and Ludwig Windstoßer. Later Siegfried Lauterwasser, Otto Steinert, Heinz Hajek - Halke and Christer Christian came (pseudonym of Swedish photographer Christer Strömholm ) added as another fellow.

One was interested in the photographic experiment and wanted to point to new possibilities of photography, which had existed before the time of National Socialism, but had been displaced by the Nazi cultural policy. It was the photographer to the " shaped frame " and the turning away from the conventional Lichtbildnerei the postwar period.

As fotoform picture was only when the photograph was counted by the critique session the group to be accepted. Who wanted to have his photo accepted, sent to Wolfgang Reisewitz, the managing director of the group that led the broadcast among the members. Each of the group was on the back of the photo his criticism and judgment " fotoform yes" or " fotoform no" to. Only by the majority acceptance of the photos in the group, it could be referred to as fotoform picture and exhibited.

In 1950 fotoform a first spectacular appearance at Photokina. In 1951 the first major exhibition as an event of international photography and art, under the name " Subjective Photography " in Saarbrücken. 1952 broke the group, by the entry of Steinert, Peter Keetman and Schneider in the GDL ( German Society Lichtbildner ) that existed before the Second World War, and the answer was the unwritten design goals of the group.