Athletics and Photography 1884 - 2009
July 23 to August 23, 2009

An open-air exhibition of photographs is part of the cultural programme for the 12th World Championships in Athletics berlin 2009™ , which is being supported by the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH has been commissioned by BOC 2009 GmbH to create an exhibition of a selection of photographs of athletics spanning the past 125 years (with an addition to the exhibit in the "Passage" of the Academy of Arts at Pariser Platz). The images were printed by EPSON.

The exhibition is set up along the middle of the boulevard "Unter den Linden" between Schadowstrasse and Friedrichstrasse. On over 60 poster columns, it shows experimental "motion photography" and the developing field of sports photo journalism from the era of "Neues Sehen" (New Vision) and the artistically oriented photography from the middle of the 20^th century to the age of technical refinement and ambitious sports photography from the 1960s to the present. In addition, in the "Passage" of the Academy of Arts several current photographs of athletics and numerous historical publications (magazines and photo-illustrated books) are on display.

The exhibition does not present a representative history of the photography of athletics, but rather a selection of the best images of athletics since the end of the 19 ^th century. One of the main criteria of selection was the artistic-aesthetic quality of the photographs. A sampling of 125 years of the history of athletics is thus made possible through this collection of quality photographic compositions, while it also presents an overview of 125 years of the history of photography and photo technology through a collection of masterpieces of the photography of athletics.

The message and synopsis of the exhibition is: The fascination and beauty of the physical athletic motion of people from all nations only became truly perceptible by the human eye through the lens of the camera and the talent of the photo artist.

The photographers include:

• Etienne-Jules Marey
• Eadweard Muybridge
• Ottomar Anschütz
• Gebr. Haeckel
• Lothar Rübelt
• El Lissitzky
• John Heartfield
• Alexander Rodtschenko
• Max Schirner
• Wolf Strache
• Harold Edgerton
• Gjon Mili
• René-Jacques
• Heinrich v.d. Becke
• Robert Lebeck
• Jochen Blume

• Charles Trainor
• George Silk
• Mel Levine
• Herb Ritts
• Rupert Leser
• Sven Simon
• Annie Leibowitz
• Laci Perényi
• Gladys Chai
• David Burnett
• Al Bello
• Katja Eydel
• Gero Breloer
• Annegret Hilse
• Wolfgang Tillmans

The exhibition was implemented by Thomas Friedrich (Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH, Curator of the Europäischer Monat der Fotografie Berlin (European Month of Photography), who developed the idea and concept for the exhibition) and Frank Wagner (free-lance curator, Berlin ). Design: Detlev Pusch; Cooperation: Anika Büssemeier and Susanne Weiß.

There is an informational flyer on the exhibition as well as a catalogue (172 pages, 15 euros), which is available in bookstores for 24 €.

The images may be utilised for the purpose of news coverage of the exhibition "In Motion – Athletics and Photography 1884 - 2009".

Download "In Motion"-photo, by Gero Breloer (200 KB)

Download "In Motion"-photo, by Robert Lebeck (177 KB)

Download "In Motion"-photo, by Annie Leibowitz (80 KB)

Download "In Motion"-photo, by Rupert Leser (100 KB)

Download "In Motion"-photo, by Êtienne-Jules Marey (97 KB)

Download "In Motion"-photo, by Laci Perényi (329 KB)

Download "In Motion"-photo, by René-Jacques (88 KB)