Undurchsichtiges Paar, Köln-Eigelstein

by Chargesheimer (*1924, †1971)

Provenance: L. F. Gruber / Gerd Sander Collection //// In the early 1950s, the Cologne "Eigelstein" district captivated many photographers, including Chargesheimer. ///// This work has currently been taken up in the well-known series "Unter Krahnenbäumen". A street in Cologne's "Kunibäatsveedel". The atmospherically dense photos by Chargesheimer made the street famous. It's not a nice street. The houses are old and gray, their facades are worn, vacant lots are planked with planks. On the old pavement we get gestures and facial expressions of the full spectrum of human life in all its facets of love, hate, happiness, passion, tragedy, grief and towards sensual joie de vivre. Chargesheimer approached people directly with his camera. For a year he lived with and among them, was a part and at the same time a loving witness to countless events. The result was haunting, relentlessly open images that never violated the dignity of the people who were photographed.