How 'Typologien' at Fondazione Prada Explores German Photography

Forbes

11-05-2025

Heinrich Riebesehl "Menschen Im Fahrstuhl" (People in the Elevator, 1969), Berlin
Heinrich Riebesehl, by SIAE 2025
We live in an age defined so much by image-making. We, even the least of us digital natives, communicate through image, real or constructed, and are documented constantly—too often without our knowledge or consent. Which makes the latest exhibition at Milan's Fondazione Prada all the more poignant. 'Typologien: Photography in 20th-Century Germany' is a fascinating exploration of the photograph and place, of image-making as both historical record and social commentary. Focusing on 25 diverse photographers working throughout the 20th century in Germany, 'Typologien' examines how photography has been used to express collective, social, political and personal ideas.
Fondazione Prada, by Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), functions as the fashion house's cultural hub
Nargess Banks
Opened in 2015 (the Torre building joined in 2018), Fondazione Prada functions as the fashion house's cultural hub. The design, by Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and led by the maverick architect Rem Koolhaas, is pretty spectacular. Built on the site of a former early 20th-century gin distillery in Largo Isarco, an industrial area in Milan, the buildings blend old and new, industry and art, for a complex and dynamic space that brilliantly communicates its place as a platform for open discourse on arts and ideas. (As a side note, for anyone interested in culture, a trip to Milan should include a visit to Fondazione Prada.)
Karl Blossfeldt "Adiantum pedatum, haarfarn, junge, noch eingerollte Wedel" (Maidenhair fern, young, still curled fronds), Courtesy Berlin University of Arts, Archive
Karl Blossfeldt Collection in cooperation with Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Colognecourtesy Berlin University of the Arts, Archive – Karl Blossfeldt Collection in cooperation with Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne
The 600-plus images on show at 'Typologien' are organized typologically rather than chronologically, with the curatorial direction inviting us to view this turbulent time in Germany's history—and the role and scope of photography—through multiple lenses. Though varied in approach, the works on show here are united by a shared intent: to classify, to order, to make sense of the world through image. The architecture certainly adds another layer of intrigue. These are clear, quiet spaces, a system of suspended walls offering geometric partitions to instigate unexpected dialogues between artists and artistic practices—and time.
August Sander "Sekretärin beim Westdeutschen Rundfunk in Köln" (Secretary at West German Radio in Cologne, 1931)
Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archive, Cologne; SIAE, Roma, 2025
The idea of 'typology,' a system first used in 17th and 18th-century botany to classify and study plants, found its way into German photography in the early part of the last century. And while typology is by nature a rigid, formal framework, it's somewhat allowed for surprising connections between German artists across generations, and through to the digital age.
The exhibition opens with Karl Blossfeldt (1865–1932), one of the first artists to adapt the classification system used in botanical studies to photography. His detailed plant atlas also represented a clear moment for 'New Objectivity,' the movement born during the Weimar Republic to promote clarity and documentation of realism, with photography seen as a medium to explore the very idea of typology.
Isa Genzken Ohr 1980 Galerie Buchholz Courtesy the artist and Galerie Buchholz
Isa Genzken, by SIAE 2025
Particularly intriguing is the space dedicated to August Sander (1876–1964). The photographer made a portrait of society through its people with his utterly brilliant 'People of the 20th Century' project grouping individuals—from farmers to bakers, artisans to artists, and the bourgeoisie—into social types. It's an incredible document on class and identity in Germany between the wars, capturing the brief, though culturally and politically significant moment, that was the Weimar Republic before its disappearance. Sander's portraits inspired generations of photographers, including the influential duo Bernd and Hilla Becher and their Düsseldorf School successors.
Thomas Struth Musée du Louvre IV, Paris 1989
Thomas Struth / Courtesy ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe
Elsewhere we encounter Hans-Peter Feldmann (1941–2023), who caught on camera everyday objects and historical events with a strange mix of humor and systematic cataloguing and documentation. In his series, he invented personal yet very political typologies and adopted a deliberate snapshot approach with a commercial aesthetic.
In another space, Gerhard Richter's 'Atlas' (1962–present) unfolds as a sprawling so-called private album, composed of found imagery—snapshots, pornographic material, press clippings, historical photographs. Among them: stark documentation of Nazi concentration camps, the Red Army Faction, and German reunification. Richter seems to reject the notion of typology altogether, pushing instead the idea of visual equivalence to its limits, exposing how images (regardless of weight or meaning) can be trivialized through repetition. The result is a deeper awareness of a suppressed collective memory.
Hilla Becher "Studie eines Eichenblatts" (Oak Leaf, 1965)
Estate Bernd & Hilla Becher, represented by Max Becher, courtesy Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur – Bernd and Hilla Becher Archive, Cologne, 2025
In the 1970s and 1980s, in dialogue with their mentors Bernd and Hilla Becher, artists like Andreas Gursky gradually moved away from black-and-white purism, embracing color and exploring banal themes through portraits, cityscapes and cultural landmarks. Around the same time, Isa Genzken engaged directly with photography, subverting the traditional portrait by focusing instead on physiognomic detail to examine individuality and typological categorization.
'Only through juxtaposition and direct comparison is it possible to find out what is individual and what is universal, what is normative or real,' explains curator Susanne Pfeffer, art historian and director of Museum MMK für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt. 'The typological comparison allows differences and similarities to emerge and the specifics to be grasped. Unknown or previously unperceived things about nature, the animal, or the object, about place and time become visible and recognizable.'
Andreas Gursky "Untitled XVIII" 2015 Atelier Andreas Gursky
Andreas Gursky, by SIAE 2025; courtesy Sprüth Magers
Pfeffer speaks of how the unique and the individual are being absorbed into a global mass. 'The internet allows typologies to be created in a matter of seconds. And yet this is precisely when it seems important—to artists—to take a closer look. When the present seems to have abandoned the future, we need to observe the past more closely. When everything seems to be shouting at you and becoming increasingly brutal, it is important to take a quiet pause and use the silence to see and think clearly. When differences are not seen as something other, but turned into something that divides us, it is crucial to notice what we have in common. Typologies allow us to identify remarkable similarities and subtle differences.'
'Typologien: Photography in 20th-Century Germany' is on at Fondazione Prada in Milan from April 3 to July 14, 2025.
Read my highlights from Milan Design Week 2025; see what's happening at the 24th Triennale Milano here, and read my year in art.