HAMBURG, GERMANY.- Deichtorhallen Hamburg, House of Photography - Contemporary Art presents The Algerian War and Photography, on view through September 3, 2006. The first years of the new century were characterized by a series of warlike events which some people interpret as conflicts between the European and Islamic areas of civilization however others as the resurgence of fighting between the center and periphery under colonial conditions.

The exhibition „Pierre Bourdieu: The Algerian War and Photography“ thematicises the role of photography in that area of conflict. The exhibition shows some very impressive photographs of the old and new societies of the Near and Middle East which were intentionally taken for scientific and not for journalistic purposes along with hitherto, little-known examples from the heyday of journalistic reportage photography before the rise of television into the foremost medium. Following on from the Leonore Mau and Hubert Ficht double-exhibition (Sept. 16, 2005 – Jan. 8, 2006), with this exhibition the House of Photography in the Deichtorhallen once again stands up for a many-sided, all photographic practices included reflection on the historical and present-day possibilities of the medium.

Under the title „In Algeria: Witnesses of Social Uprooting, the first part of the exhibition shows photographs by the later to be known worldwide French social scientist Pierre Bourdieu (1930 – 2002). Only shortly before his death did his photographs of the anticolonial liberation fights in Algeria succeed in coming into the public eye. They impressively document the contradictions, inequalities and manifold forms of wretchedness in that „giant social laboratory“ (Bourdieu) and reflect upon the conflict between colonial rulers and the self-determination seeking Muslim populace. Christine Frisinghelli (Camera Austria, Graz) und Franz Schultheis (Fondation Pierre Bourdieu, Universität Genf) curated this part of the exhibition for the House of Photography after these pictures had been on view under various contexts at different locations.

Spurred on by Pierre Bourdieu’s photos, the first, comprehensive representation of the role that photography played in that merciless conflict gave rise to the second part of the exhibition which is curated by Robert Fleck (Director of the Deichtorhallen) and Ingo Taubhorn (Curator of the House of Photography). Previously unreleased reportages by, among others, Max Scheler and Rolf Gillhausen, from the rich, however seldom made available contents of the Hamburg Media Archive, have recently been newly selected. Along with examples of coverage by the large, illustrated weekly magazines PARIS MATCH and STERN, amateur shots of soldiers and foreign legionnaires are on view as well as never before shown photographs by Angelika Platen (1964) and Manfred Willmann (2006).

„Pierre Bourdieu: The Algerian War and Photography“ is part of the consortium project „Art and Democracy“ which was planned since October, 2002 in which the Haus der Kunst, Munich and the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, and the House of Photography in the Hamburg Deichtorhallen are the participating partners (all exhibitions run until September 3, 2006).

The exhibition and extensive associated program are indebted to the friendly support of a cooperation with the Foundation Pierre Bourdieu, Geneva, the research network ESSE, Geneva, Camera Austria, Graz, the Kunstraum der Universität Lüneburg (the Art Space of the University of Lüneburg) as well as the Hamburg art cinema Metropolis Kommunale Kino. It includes photographs from the picture archive of the SPIEGEL magazine and from the STERN magazine.

Promoted through the Sparkassen-Kulturfonds des Deutschen Sparkassen- und Giroverbandes (Savings Banks’ Culture Investment Securities) and the Institut français de Hambourg (the French Institute of Hamburg).