© Bernd Schuler
Galerie d'art contemporain Am Tunnel 16, Rue Zithe 2954 Luxembourg Luxembourg
Bernd Schuler has wanted to become a photographer as long as he can remember. He shared his creative streak with his mother, who was a hat maker. He was encouraged by a good family friend, who was prepared to lend the ten-year-old a Contax single-lens reflex camera, with which he photographed to his heart’s content. After graduating from high school, he completed an apprenticeship with a photographer in Landau, near his home town of Bellheim. Since he previously acquired much theoretical knowledge of photography, he was able to graduate in two instead of three years. Although photography was not yet considered a form of art in the mid 1960s in Germany, Bernd Schuler has always regarded himself as an artist. After completing his apprenticeship and military service, he applied to the Bavarian State School of Photography ( Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie ) in Munich, where he was admitted to the master class. Even though Munich was at the center of his life for 40 years, he undertook many trips throughout his career, with destinations including the United States, the Caribbean, southern Europe, and Australia. A selection of the creative work resulting from these journeys from 1973 to 2013, titled “Portraits and Landscapes”, will be on display.
Twelve Apostles, Victoria Australia 2008 © Bernd Schuler
Schuler’s American and Australian landscapes capture the vastness of space, with their frequently endless skies, which span the uniformity of their environment. The colossal billboards in the U.S. dominate their surroundings and make them look like toys, and often appear more alive than what surrounds them. The Twelve Apostles (2008) are wide and lofty, while the sea which often boils, is relatively calm. Mr. Schuler shows entirely different qualities of the same landscape, which are accordingly named after German river landscapes. On the one hand there is the Flaucher (2008), with a wide gravel beach, where a large joyful party takes place. We can see the colorful commotion of Munich’s citizens, who enjoy celebrating. Then there is the Isarauen (2009), only 100 meters away from the Flaucher. The river bed is filled to the brim with water, while mist rises from the trees. The paths are deserted, the Isar makes a turn and disappears from view. A park landscape rarely seems so depressing. The Rhine (1973), however, is almost compulsively structured and appears hostile.
Bundaberg Australia 2008 © Bernd Schuler
Schuler resists the idea of having a role model, but admits that he has an affinity for Martin Parr and Helmut Newton. He shares a sense for the bizarre with Parr, which we can see in New York (1999), where a bus apparently has no windows. In Guggenheim Museum (1980), we find women whose dresses match the pictures on exhibit in both color and pattern. Like Mr. Parr, Mr. Schuler observes people in their everyday lives, capturing the comical, but without Parr’s bitter cynicism. Mr. Schuler rejects any mission or motto attributed to his work. He wants neither to teach nor to change the world; he wants to please and enrich the viewer with his photos - and he succeeds outstandingly, without being dull. Thus he holds a similar view to his colleague Ingebord Sello, who sees “the actual role of photography, … [as] a servant”. Schuler displays a calm personality, and is someone who puts his subjects at the center of attention, instead of himself. He is not partial to self-promotion, therefore we find no self-portraits, unlike with Helmut Newton. In common with Newton, however, is his work as a fashion photographer and love of beautiful women, although never in a baring or voyeuristic manner.
Der Rhein 1973 © Bernd Schuler
There are several kinds of portraits in the exhibition. On the one hand, there are the famous ones. Mr. Schuler shows Grace Jones (1996) as one dancing around the fire with a ferocity one suspects of her, but has rarely seen so clearly. The young Uschi Obermaier (1973) seems very sensual, yet also questioning and fragile. His fashion shots show strong women, confident and challenging, but also thoughtful. Paula (1999) looks serious and tested by life. Depending on the perspective, Jojanne (1997) appears defiantly resistant or tartly seductive. On the other hand, there are also old women in highly expressive clothes, who give their lively opinion and unswervingly pursue their hobby. Mr. Schuler represents the working population as serious people, who are evidently proud of their skills and performance in an unpretentious manner. One is convinced that they work hard. Among the shots are barber shops, elegant and tidy, with vintage decor in Lisbon (2011), charming and chaotic in Australia (2008). There is a fan next to bottles, jars and scissors, and on the wall next to hats is a steel helmet and a certificate, possibly that of the owner. Above, there is a stuffed duck - one can almost smell the billabong. The friendly owner seems to invite the viewer to take place in the dental chair, holding the cape in his hand, ready to get started. In Havana (2004), the decor is worn like a teddy bear loved to death, with mirrors that extend across the walls, already dull, the store is sparse and functional, the veneer peeling. Nonetheless, the drapes are the whitest white, the heads of customers and employees styled accurately, fans operating at full speed, and the soft, clean scent of birch hair lotion emanates from the photograph. The artist shows the people where they live, in the center of their life. Bernd Schuler’s photographs might do the best that pictures are capable of: They give people dignity. (Ulla Hellinge)