About German photographer, Roswitha HECKE (b.1944, in Hamburg)

After her apprenticeship as a photographer, Roswitha HECKE met director Peter Zadek and photographed his productions for years, as well as later those of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and films by Éric Rohmer in Paris. With her unposed images, she explores foreign, often simple milieus and worlds. Some of her photographic cycles deal with people on the margins of society: transvestites, homeless people and prostitutes. Another theme is her exploration of the 'fascination with men' and the expressions of machismo. She has published her pictures in numerous magazines, including Vogue, Twen, Stern, Playboy, Theater heute, Die Zeit and Spiegel. Numerous trips have taken her to all continents, she lived in Morocco for three years and in 2002 she moved to St. Petersburg, where she taught at the Academy of Fine Arts (photography master class). Roswitha HECKE now lives in Hamburg
Her photo book 'Liebes Leben' about the Zurich prostitute Irene was awarded the 'Kodak Prize' for the best photo book in the first edition by Rogner & Bernhard in 1979 and in 1982 in the Rowohlt paperback edition by the Stiftung Buchkunst as one of the 'most beautiful books of the year'.

Photo books by and with works by Roswitha HECKE

  • 'Liebes Leben. Bilder mit Irene' (1978, 1982 as Norwegian edition 'Blott til lyst. bilder med Irene', as english edition 1982, 1987, as well as 1993 as Japanese edition); 'Fotografien von Roswitha Hecke' (2004); 'Mann für Mann' (1989); 'Pigalle' (2007); 'Secret Views. Fotografien 1964 bis heute' (2007); 'Irene (2011);

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Out-of-print book 'Mann für Mann' by Roswitha HECKE contains over 40 images from all over the world. Around half of the b/w images were taken in New York City, the rest in Barcelona, Naples, Cairo, London a.o. They all show men, individually or in groups.
29,80 € * Weight 0.9 kg
This out-of-print black-and-white volume 'Pigalle' by German photographer Roswitha HECKE is the result of a long-term project. In the 1970s, the Hamburg photographer documented the lives of transvestites who lived and worked on the world-famous strip.
58,00 € * Weight 0.4 kg
Out-of-print photographic volume 'Liebes Leben' (Dear Life) by Roswitha HECKE consists of 94 images documenting the everyday life of street prostitute Irene. The b/w photographs were taken partly in Germany and partly in Italy (Rome?) in the mid-1970s.
14,80 € * Weight 0.4 kg
Exhibitions
  • 1978: 'Liebes Leben', Galerie Levy, Hamburg;

    1980: Fotoforum in der Fabrik, Hamburg;
    1990: Prince Gallery, Kyoto;
    1997: Libro Azul, Ibiza;
    1999: Levy Gallery, Madrid;
    2000: Kunsthaus Hannover;
    2002: Contemporary Art Gallery, Basel and 'Secret Views', Speicherstadtmuseum Hamburg; 
    2005: Aplanat Gallery for Photography, Hamburg;
    2006: Molitoris Gallery, Hamburg;
    2007: Akademie der Künste, Berlin and Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin;
    2009: Burgerstocker Gallery, Zurich;