Rineke Dijkstra

In the organizer's words:

Rineke Dijkstra (* 1959 ) is one of the world's most renowned photo and video artists. The depiction of identity is the central theme of her portraits. She is particularly fascinated by phases of life and the moments in which these are formed - childhood and youth, but also formative events in adulthood such as the birth of a child. The comprehensive retrospective at the Berlinische Galerie presents eight series with around 80 works from the early 1990s to the present day - including some photographs from her archive that have not previously been on public display. Reduced to the essentials, her works are also of great visual power and make it easy for viewers to find their own approaches. They offer an almost meditative space and encourage reflection on individuality, (self-)staging and the expression of personality.

Dijkstra sees the camera as an opportunity to engage intensively with people. She takes a cautious approach, following her concept slowly and with concentration, but does not rule out spontaneous further developments or variations. She often establishes a long-lasting and intensive connection with the people portrayed. This empathetic approach is reflected in her photographs through a special sensitivity: Dijkstra's works capture fragile moments, subtle gestures that lie between conscious pose and unconscious posture. She is able to bring out the dignity as well as the insecurities of individuals. The artist works with a 4x5-inch large-format plate camera, which she uses to photograph her subjects from the front. The results are pictures of extraordinary detail and precision, whose composition is thought through and realized down to the last detail. Since a separate sheet of film is required for each exposure, patience, time and concentration play an essential role for both the photographer and the model. At the same time, the subjects relax during these preparations and get used to the unfamiliar situation. The portraits reflect not only how we present ourselves to the world, but also what it means to be documented by the media. They can almost be described as studies of human behavior in front of the camera. Especially against the backdrop of the omnipresence of social media, they offer the opportunity to examine the claims to authenticity of images and changing strategies of (self-)staging.