Amazing forms in the photographs of Heinz Hayek-Halke

In the 20s of the last century, a new artistic direction appeared in photography, based on the combination of different photographs and the use of the concept of "photoform". Heinz Hayek-Halke became one of those pioneers - experimenters who made a real revolution in the history of photography.

(Total 16 photos)

1. Self-portrait. 1928

Heinz Hayek-Halke spent almost his entire creative life in Berlin, where he was born in 1898. In his hometown, he managed to work as a photo editor, photojournalist and commercial artist.

2. He was the first to try in his work to transfer the documentary aspect to the background in the structure of photography, and opened a new world of artificial, but surprising and beautiful image. We can say that for this photographer, the form has become more important than the content of the picture.

3. For example, here we see how a large-scale image of a woman’s figure in the middle of a street scene turns into this new “form”.

4. Now it may be difficult for us to appreciate the innovation of the photographer, but it is worth remembering the time of his “pioneer” work, and realizing that he was a kind of pioneer in photography.

5. 1928

Hayek-Halke focused on so-called "experimental photography" - photomontages, multiple exposures, photograms. Since 1933, the photographer began to engage in macro photography.

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7. 1928

8. 1930 “Ripe fruit”

9. During the Second World War, he led a solitary life and was mainly engaged in macro photography. Also during that period, he became interested in aerial photography and industrial photography.

10. In 1945, Hayek-Halke spent some time as a prisoner of war in a French prison, and after his release he worked on a farm breeding snakes for pharmaceutical purposes.

11. 1936 bat and lamp

Heinz Hayek-Halke returned to photography in 1947, and a year later he joined the famous photographic society "Fotoform" and took part in an exhibition of subject photography.

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13. Since 1950, photographs by Heinz Hayek-Halke have been featured in almost every notable German photography exhibition, including Subjective Photography organized by Otto Steinert in 1951 and Photokina in 1954. He was fond of abstract compositions: perhaps, works in this genre contributed most to the growth of his popularity.

14. 1952 Fish Graveyard

15. The photographer continued his pre-war experiments with “photographs without a camera” and even published a book on photograms.

16. Since 1955, Hayek-Halke taught graphic design and photography at an art college in Berlin. He published two books: "Experimentelle Fotografie" and "Lichtgrafik". He died in Berlin in 1983.