Heinz Hajek-Halke (1 December 1898 – 11 May 1983) was a German experimental photographer and educator. He was an early member of the

Fotoform Fotoform was an avant-garde photography group founded in 1949 by six young German photographers, Siegfried Lauterwasser, Peter Keetman, Wolfgang Reisewitz, Toni Schneiders, Otto Steinert and Ludwig Windstoßer. Emergence After WW2, the photog ...

group.

Early life

Hajek-Halke was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany, on 1 December 1898, the son of Paul Halke. He spent twelve years in Argentina while growing up and then moved back to Germany, studying

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...

in Berlin in 1915. He was a soldier during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

before returning to his artistic studies. He specialised in a number of areas, including engraving, illustrations, film posters and photo editing before becoming a photographer in 1924.

Career

As a photographer, he began to focus on experimental work, including "light montages, double exposures, photo collages and photo montages". He would use multiple negatives for a single print, a technique called "combi-photography". He worked with the fashion photographer

Yva Yva (26 January 1900 – disappeared June 1942?; officially declared dead on 31 December 1944) was the professional pseudonym of Else Ernestine Neuländer-Simon who was a History of the Jews in Germany, German Jewish photographer renowned for he ...

. Hajek-Halke worked as a photo editor,

press photographer Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

, and

commercial artist Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

, concentrating almost from the start on montage techniques. In the 1930s with the

rise of the Nazis ''Rise of the Nazis'' is a British documentary series about the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The first series aired in 2019, followed by the second and third series in 2022, and the fourth series in 2023. Several historian ...

he lived quietly, moving to

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

after he refused to fake documentaries for the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. He photographed small animal life-forms, including insects. In 1937, he travelled to Brazil, where he produced a documentary about a snake farm. He returned to Germany in 1939. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Hajek-Halke was conscripted by the German army and worked as a photographer for

Dornier Dornier may refer to: * Claudius Dornier (1884–1969), German aircraft designer and builder ** Dornier Flugzeugwerke, German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1914 by Claudius Dornier * Dornier Consulting, international consulting and project manag ...

, an aircraft company in

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

. After the war he spent a brief time as a French prisoner of war. He then began selling snake venom from his own snake farm to the pharmaceutical industry. In 1949, Hajek-Halke became a member of the German group

after meeting

Otto Steinert Otto Steinert (12 July 1915 – 3 March 1978) was a German photographer. Life and work Born in Saarbrücken, Germany, Steinert was a medical doctor by profession and was self-taught in photography. After World War II, he initially worked for t ...

. His abstractions,

photomontages Photomontage is the process and the result of making a compositing, composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. Sometimes the resulting Compositing#Physical compositing, composite ...

and luminograms were included in the first of two "subjektive fotografie" exhibitions. He was appointed as a lecturer in photography and graphic design at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

in Berlin in 1955. Along with Felix H. Man, he won the 1965 Culture Award from the

German Society for Photography The German Society for Photography (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie, DGPh) is a German photography organisation, based in Cologne. It is concerned with the application of photography in art, science, education, journalism, economics and pol ...

. During his lifetime he published two books, ''Experimentelle Fotografie'' and ''Lichtgrafik''.

Death and legacy

He died in Berlin on 11 May 1983. He left his estate to the photographer Michael Ruetz, who donated it to the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts () is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The academy's predecessor organization was founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

, in 2010.

References

1898 births 1983 deaths Photographers from Berlin German Army personnel of World War I German photojournalists Fine art photographers Photography academics {{Germany-photographer-stub