About German photographer Peter KEETMAN (1916-2005)
Peter KEETMAN attended the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Lichtbildwesen (Bavarian State School for Photography) from 1935 to 1937 (lastly: Staatliche Fachakademie für Fotodesign München). He then assisted industrial and portrait photographer Gertrud HESSE in Duisburg and in the studio of industrial photographer Carl Heinz SCHMECK in Aachen. After returning from the war and recovering, he attended the master class at the Bavarian State School of Photography and passed his master's exam in 1948. In 1948 he assisted Adolf LAZI in planning and realizing the exhibition 'Die Photographie 1948'. Peter KEETMAN was a founding member of the avant-garde group of photographers 'fotoform' in 1949 and, as a freelance advertising photographer, played a decisive role in determining the direction taken by Subjective Photography in the 1950s. In the exhibition 'Subjective Photography' put together by Otto STEINERT in 1951 and in the volume published for it, works by Peter KEETMAN had a firm and style-forming place. From 1948 on, he was represented with pictures and portfolios in all authoritative German photo magazines, later also in some international magazines. In addition, there were many publications and illustrations in periodicals dealing with architecture, industrial photography, design or graphics. His series of works 'A Week at the Volkswagen Factory', which he took at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg in 1953, became particularly well known. The shots of assembly line technology, body parts and technical details in the construction of the VW Beetle, which were graphically designed through cropping and perspective, were revolutionary. On the occasion of his 100th birthday, the Museum Folkwang held a comprehensive retrospective entitled 'Gestaltete Welt. A photographic life's work' was held.
Books and catalogs by and on the work of Peter KEETMAN (a selection)
- 'München. Lebenskreise einer Stadt' (1955)
'Subjektive Fotografie – Bilder der 50er Jahre' (1984)
'Eine Woche im Volkswagenwerk. Fotografien aus dem April 1953' (1985)
'fotoform / Peter Keetman' (1988)
'Bewegung und Struktur' (1996)
'Volkswagenwerk 1953' (2003)
'Gestaltete Welt' (2016)
Exhibitions (a selection)
- 1961: 'Peter Keetman,' Staatliche Landesbildstelle, Hamburg
1980: 'fotoform. Peter Keetman', Kicken, Cologne
1982: 'Peter Keetman. Photographien', PPS Galerie, Hamburg
1989: 'Fotografien von Peter Keetman', Fotografie Forum, Frankfurt 1991: 'Fotografien 1937–1987', Fotomuseum im Stadtmuseum, Munich
1994: 'Fotografien', Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal
1995: 'Peter Keetman and fotoform', Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York City
1996: 'Peter Keetman. Bilder aus dem 1995 erworbenen Archiv', Museum Folkwang, Essen
2003: 'Volkswagenwerk 1953', Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
2006: 'Peter Keetman', Kicken, Berlin
2016: 'Gestaltete Welt', Museum Folkwang, Essen sowie im Haus der Photographie – Deichtorhallen, Hamburg
2017: 'Gestaltete Welt', Kunstfoyer, Munich
Awards
- 1981: David Octavius Hill Medal
1991: Culture Award of the German Society for Photography (DGPh)