“Nothing is as constant as change. Stay Vertical!”
—Horst HamannGerman artist Horst Hamann (b.1958) pushes boundaries of composition and scale in his novel approach to documenting architecture. Born in Mannheim, Hamann moved to New York in 1989 and began photographing slender fragments of the city’s skyscrapers in 1991 when he experimented with turning his panoramic camera vertically on its side. Taking inspiration from unexpected angles of the highest buildings, he explains: ‘I need the “urban jungle”. Yet one has to maintain the ability of sensory perception. The question is how willing we still are to perceive. Some people no longer see anything.’ Here, we look up at his monumental photograph, measuring over 2.5 metres high, of the New York Stock Exchange, one of the most impressive landmarks in the world. Juxtaposed with the building’s verticality, a group of scaled-down figures in the shadowy foreground continue their daily lives within the metropolis. Hamann’s work has been exhibited worldwide, notably as the first living German artist to be honoured by the Museum of The City of New York with a six-month show on this series in 1999. New York Vertical is also the subject of his 2001 monograph featuring this work.
Horst Hamann on location for New York Vertical.
Provenance
Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, 2015
Exhibited
New York Vertical, Museum of the City of New York, 1999 Horst Hamann: New York, The Photographers' Gallery, London, 4 October - 23 November 2002
1994 Gelatin silver print, printed later, mounted. Image: 267 x 90 cm (105 1/8 x 35 3/8 in.) Frame: 295 x 118.5 cm (116 1/8 x 46 5/8 in.) Signed in ink in the margin.
This work is number 4 from the sold-out edition of 5 (no AP).