DÖHNE, Volker - BUNT. Farbige 1970er Jahre

Background information

"Those were colors back in the 1970s. Green Beetles, yellow Opels, red Golfs. The courage to use color coincided with the spread of color film, which fascinated the young photographer Volker DÖHNE. It is precisely his documentation of the everyday at that time that speaks to us so directly today. In the time distance one sees: The colorfulness stood in contrast to the often dreary environment. This photo volume, 'Bunt. Farbige 1970er Jahre' (Colored. Colorful 1970s) by Volker DÖHNE from the 'New Düsseldorf Scholl of Photography' (the 'becher cöass') is a book to smile, reflect and remember cars of yesteryear and the garden arbors that were once again in vogue - a photo book for those who still experienced the 1970s themselves." (slightly adapted text, © Greven Verlag, 2019)

Content

The photo book 'Bunt: Farbige 1970er Jahre' by Volker DÖHNE consists of two parts: in the first part we see groupings of colored cars, the second part is dedicated to the colorful variety of garden arbors. The photo book 'Bunt: Farbige 1970er Jahre' by Volker DÖHNE consists of two parts: in the first part, after a prologue with square single and serial images, we see groupings of colored cars, the second part is dedicated to the colorful variety of garden arbors. The early BECHER student arranged his groups of cars mostly in front of gray-in-grey architecture; also the parking facilities of his hometown Remscheid breathe the apparent tristesse of the 1970s in Germany. The volume is rounded off by a German-language introductory text by Catrin Lorch. In addition to the trade edition, a collector's edition with print (two to choose from) was also available.

Book review

"Volker DÖHNE was one of Bernd BECHER's first students in 1976, but his work only came to the attention of a wider public in connection with exhibitions about the BECHER class. Now he had the opportunity to realize books from his own photographs. So also the volume 'Bunt - Farbige 1970er Jahre' with 'studies' on color in street and landscape photography.
The book begins with a prologue in the form of street scenes in a small square format, in which the yellow of postal vehicles and federal road signs is emphasized. The main section features parked cars in the bright hues common at the time, and concludes with a short chapter on summerhouses. It is not a book about vintage cars or about allotment nostalgia, but a book about color in photography, which seems somehow artificial here, just as if Volker DÖHNE has helped a little to intensify the contrast between the really very colorful cars and the often quite gray architectural ambience in his hometown of Remscheid. In his student years, the documentary métier was associated with a lot of gray, seriousness and critical impetus. Today, Volker DÖHNE's work comes across casually in the certainty that he no longer has anything to prove to anyone." (slightly adapted text,© Thomas Wiegand, in: Kasseler Fotobuchblog, 2020)

About the German photographer, Volker DÖHNE (b. 1953, in Remscheid)

Photo books by Volker DÖHNE