Peter Lindbergh: Untold Stories
Lindbergh, who passed away about three years ago, planned and completed plans for this exhibition a mere couple of days before his passing; they were simply left on the table in his office. That is in itself something to keep in mind, on top of the fact that it was also the only exhibition of his work that he curated himself. It includes works spanning decades, photographs that have never been seen before, behind the scenes, as well as a personal photographic project, that goes beyond the scope of his fashion photography work.
While I knew about Lindbergh and some of the photographs he’s so well known for, it was really fascinating to dive more into his fascination with depicting his subjects, who were most often women. He really pioneered a more humanistic approach to photographing women, challenging standards of beauty throughout his career. Lindbergh photographed a diverse range of women, many of which attested to the fact that they felt free to express themself without any constraints. This resulted in photos that convey a sort of liberated honesty, are not heavily edited, and show real people with an artistic flair, part of which is the iconicity of a black and white photograph. Apparently, he found them to be more authentic than color, stating that “[p]ortraits appear stronger by the reduction.” It sounds almost paradoxical but makes absolute sense in the context of his work. It makes the photograph timeless, which were grouped together but taken decades apart, flow seamlessly
The upper floor of the exhibition, which was darkened completely except for the illuminated large-scale photographs (in color), was entirely dedicated to his personal project. Pondering how to morally deal with the death penalty he began to research court cases that ended in this sentence. In this process he realized that there is no “right” way to deal with it, everyone can relate to the innocence we are born with, and maybe trying to understand is the way forward. This resulted in a photo series documenting an inmate’s facial expressions, without ever mentioning any personal details of what the man was convicted for. To me that created a moment of relatability, looking at the photographs of an ever so slightly shifting mimic. While the setting was grim and in stark contrast to the rest of the exhibition, there was a humanity in that, it illustrated how we are to a certain extent, the product of our external conditions, as Lindbergh believed. It challenged the concept of the death penalty by intentionally omitting details, thus making the viewer question what justice even means.
It was a great overall experience, from the space to the way the story was told, to the unexpected inmate series. One of the best photographic exhibitions I’ve seen in a while and it will remain on show in Brussels until mid-May.