Menschenbilder

In the organizer's words:

Photographer Jan Köhler-Kaeß has been documenting Kiel in all its facets since his earliest youth. This makes him one of the most important urban photo chroniclers since the mid-1950s. Today, his photographic work comprises well over 1 million sets of images.

To mark his 80th birthday, the Kiel City and Maritime Museum is presenting an exhibition dedicated to his candid images of people and photojournalistic portraits. On display in a contrasting sequence are photographs of federal and state politicians such as Willy Brandt and Heide Simonis, but above all of the people of Kiel on the street, at work or in their leisure time. Always on location when something needed to be "captured" in a picture: Jan Köhler-Kaeß "had them all in front of his lens".

Born in Giessen in 1943, he grew up in Schilksee and Friedrichsort. At the age of 11, he was given an "Agfa-Clack", which set him on a career path as a photographer and photojournalist. Just three years later, he became the youngest member of the Hebbel School's photo club. He also made contact with well-known photographers early on. At the age of 16, he was criticized by photographer and Kiel Culture Prize winner Peter Cornelius. After leaving school and serving in the German army, Jan Köhler-Kaeß studied photo design at the renowned Folkwangschule in Essen under the internationally renowned photographer Otto Steinert. After graduating in 1973, he worked as a freelancer until 1977, when he took over from photographer Friedrich Magnussen at the Kieler Nachrichten. Jan Köhler-Kaeß worked there for over 30 years as a photojournalist, reporter and local editor.

Exhibition of Jan Köhler-Kaeß on his 80th birthday