Siegfried Lauterwasser (16 April 1913 – 7 September 2000) was a German photographer. He was one of the most important representatives of ''subjective photography'' and a member of the group ''

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 ...

'', which was influential in the post-war period. He continued the photographic tradition of his father Alexander Lauterwasser (1878-1933) and his grandfather Alexander Lauterwasser (1846-1923).

Life

Lauterwasser was born in

Überlingen Überlingen (; ) is a German city on the northern shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Baden-Württemberg near the German-Swiss border, border with Switzerland. After the city of Friedrichshafen, it is the second-largest city in the Bodenseek ...

. After an apprenticeship as a photographer in his native town with his father Alexander Lauterwasser (1928/1929), he attended the Höhere Berufsschule für Grafik und gestaltendes Gewerbe in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

from 1929 to 1931. In 1933, he took over his father's photography studio, and in 1937 he passed the master craftsman's examination. During the Second World War, Lauterwasser was a photojournalist for the

Wehrmacht Propaganda Troops Propaganda Troops (, abbreviated as ') was a branch of service of the and the of Nazi Germany during World War II. Subordinated to the High Command of the (the '), its function was to produce and disseminate propaganda materials aimed at the G ...

. His main focus seems to have been photographs with the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

and on the Eastern Front, much of it in

colour photography Color photography (also spelled as colour photography in Commonwealth English) is photography that uses media capable of capturing and reproducing colors. By contrast, black-and-white or gray-monochrome photography records only a single channe ...

. He became a member of ''fotoform'' in 1949. In 1987, he received his golden master's certificate. He published his pictures in magazines, books and as postcards. Typical of his photographic style is the subjective-artistic combination of movement, harmony and light. He died on 7 September 2000 in Überlingen at the age of 87.

Topics

Landscape and animals

After the war, Lauterwasser turned to landscape, art and cultural photography of the

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 ...

area. Special images are the photographs of the

Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht The Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht, Fasnacht (in Switzerland) or Fasnat/Faschnat (in Vorarlberg) is the pre-Lenten carnival of Alemannic folklore in Switzerland, southern Germany, Alsace and Vorarlberg. Etymology Popular etymology often links ' ...

, the

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

at Lake Constance, the Überlingen sword dancers and the water birds. He produced illustrated books about Lake Constance and its moods until the 1950s. He also took landscape photographs of the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

, Italy, France,

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

and Africa. Special photographs are ''Eisbär bei Spitzbergen'' and ''Leopard Afrika''.

Bayreuth Festival

In 1934,

Wieland Wagner Wieland Wagner (5 January 1917 – 17 October 1966) was a German opera director, and grandson of Richard Wagner. As co-director of the Bayreuth Festival when it re-opened after World War II, he was noted for innovative new stagings of the musica ...

met Lauterwasser in the photography business. From 1952 to 1987, Lauterwasser recorded the productions of the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...

as a stage photographer. One particular photograph is ''Wagner's Tristan and Isolde'' in Bayreuth.

Herbert von Karajan

Karajan became aware of Lauterwasser in

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

, and so Lauterwasser became

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born ''Heribert Adolf Ernst Karajan''; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, ...

's preferred photographer from 1962 onwards. From 1967 to 1988, Lauterwasser was photographer at the

Salzburg Easter Festival The Salzburg Easter Festival (, sometimes OFS) is a classical music and opera festival held every year over the extended week before Easter (Holy Week) in Salzburg, Austria since 1967. It was created by the conductor Herbert von Karajan, and for ...

Classical music artists

His photos of conductors, soloists and singers of classical music in the second half of the 20th century were also used for records, CD covers and illustrated books. He took photos of

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

Karl Böhm Karl August Leopold Böhm (28 August 1894 – 14 August 1981) was an Austrian conductor. He was best known for his performances of the music of Mozart, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Life and career Education Karl Böhm was born in Graz, St ...

, David Oistrach,

Anne-Sophie Mutter Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a German violinist. Born and raised in Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg, Mutter started playing the violin at age five and continued studies in Germany and Switzerland. She was supported early in her car ...

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

and

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

, among others. Recording venues were, among others, the

Royal Opera of Versailles The Royal Opera of Versailles () is the main theatre and opera house of the Palace of Versailles. Designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, it is also known as the Théâtre Gabriel. The interior decoration by Augustin Pajou is constructed almost entirel ...

, the , the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

, the Wiener Singverein, the

Berliner Philharmonie The () is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany, and home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Philharmonie lies on the south edge of the city's Tiergarten and just west of the former Berlin Wall. The Philharmonie is on Herbert-von-Karajan- ...

The Century Picture

During the , he pictured a group of Hänsele with their colourful scale-shaped full-body mask dancing around (: ) on Lake Überlingen on Shrove Sunday, 24 February 1963, after the carnival procession, against the special backdrop of the former Free imperial city

. Daily throughout the Seegfrörne, he captured moods and events in pictures and thus created a fund of artistic photographs of the 1963 Seegfrörne.

Acknowledgement

The was awarded in 1999 to the still living members of the ''fotoform'' group and thus to Lauterwasser. Parts of his estate are in the Berlin

Prussian Heritage Image Archive The Prussian Heritage Image Archive ( or 'bpk') is an agency of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The archive is housed at the Otto Nagel-Haus in Berlin and offers photographs, cartoons and drawings in the fields of history, culture and f ...

and in the

George Eastman Museum The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as George Eastman House and the International Museum of Photography and Film, is a photography museum in Rochester, New York. Opened to the public in 1949, is the oldest museum dedicated to photography ...

. Pictures by Lauterwasser are sold at auctions.

Exhibitions

* 12 July 2013 – 6 October 2013: Städtische Galerie Überlingen im Faulen Pelz: ''100 Jahre Siegfried Lauterwasser. Das photographische Lebenswerk.'' * 4 August 2013 – 3 November 2013: Museum Haus Löwenberg, Gengenbach: ''AUGEN – BLICKE. Schwarzwald - Wein - Musik - Fotoform. Das Lebenswerk de Überlinger Photographen Siegfried Lauterwasser (1913–2000).'' * 17 February 2014 – 14 March 2014: SWR-Studio Freiburg: ''"Augen-Blicke" Schwarzwald-Fotos von Siegfried Lauterwasser''.

Publications

* ''Überlingen in Lichtbildaufnahmen''. Friedrichshafen 1938. * ''Der Rathaussaal zu Überlingen.'' Ein Bildband. Überlingen 1947. * ''Madonnen am Bodensee.'' Ein Bildband. Überlingen 1947. * ''Das Heilige Grab zu Konstanz.'' Ein Bildband. Überlingen 1948. * with Toni Schneiders and Victor Mezger: ''Narro und Hänsele. Schwäbisch-alemannische Volksfasnacht.'' Lindau 1956. * ''Segeln am Bodensee.'' Bielefeld 2000.

References

External links

* * Website des Fotostudios Lauterwasser, Überlingen
Kurzbiographie und Bildbeispiele

Siegfried Lauterwasser – das photographische Lebenswerk bei photoscala.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauterwasser, Siegfried 20th-century German photographers 1913 births 2000 deaths People from Überlingen