Fotograf unbekannt: Sipahsalar Moschee, Teheran. um 1910, Autochromeplatte, Museum für Islamische Kunst, © SMB
Kunstbibliothek Sammlung Fotografie - Museum für Fotografie Kulturforum Potsdamer Platz Matthäikirchplatz 6, 10785 Berlin Allemagne
The Art Library is reopening its newly reconstructed Kaisersaal (Emperor's Hall) at the Museum of Photography with a show of hidden treasures of architectural photography from the collections of the National Museums. Nearly all of the individual museums have acquired since some 150 years photographs. The genre of architectural photography is especially prominent represented. It was collected for the purpose of documenting ethnological and archeological expeditions, to archive architectural monuments or as an art form in its own right. An impressive panorama of the most diverse architectural motifs unfolds, ranging from the beginnings of photography to today: to mention but a few, there are images of bamboo huts from the Ethnological Museum, of temples from the Egyptian Museum, of Indian mosques from the Museum of Asian Art and architectural photographs from classical modernism that come from the Art Library's Collection of Photography. Around 300 exhibition items present architectural photography as a central genre of the medium, and open up a new, uncommon view of their history.