Kraftwerk

Dusseldorf

In 1991, photographer Peter Boettcher took images of Kraftwerk’s robots in the legendary Kling-Klang-Studio in Düsseldorf for the independent magazine SPEX. It was the beginning of a close and intense partnership that continues to this day.

The photos on display are not stereotypical examples of music or rock photography. Backstage photos, private portraits of the protagonists, snapshots of ecstatic moments in time, audiences going wild … none of this is to be found in Peter Boettcher’s photos. This exhibition, which is entitled Kraftwerk Roboter (Kraftwerk robots), brings together more than 30, mostly large-format works on the central Kraftwerk theme: the interaction between humankind and machinery.

Ralf Hütter, co-founder and lyricist with the electronic music project Kraftwerk, describes this theme thus in an essay: ‚It feels good to be part of the machine. It is a liberating feeling. For one thing because I, as an individual, take a back seat. We play the machines, and the machines play us.‘

Boettcher’s portraits of the robots and his photographs of the group’s stage performances during concerts around the world capture the essence of the Kraftwerk universe. Through the reduced forms and colours, the graphical severity of the photos, and the consistent use of the central perspective for concert photos, Peter Boettcher captures Kraftwerk’s image world in a congenial manner. In this way, he has created photographs of almost monumental clarity and concentration.

Kraftwerk

Peter Boettcher

NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

January 12 – January 30, 2012
Ehrenhof 2
40479 Dusseldorf
Germany

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