BRAUNSCHWEIG.- In a time when photography in public perception as a standalone artistic medium was only marginally considered and its significance was rather viewed in applied, scientific, or journalistic contexts, a group of 13 dedicated individuals—including photographers, a female photographer, artists, and art educators—founded the Museum of Photography Braunschweig in 1984. They endeavored to recognize the importance of photography and the diversity of its creative and conceptual possibilities in the context of visual arts and its history, as well as with regard to the city of Braunschweig and the important former photo industry based there with Voigtländer and Rollei.

As a prerequisite for a legally binding sponsorship, the association "Museum für Photographie Braunschweig e.V." was founded, laying the foundation for the now more than four decades of successful museum work with many facets.

Today, the association has 175 members—an example that the medium of photography has been established as part of the visual arts and the consideration of the medium within art history. Some of the founding members are still members of the association to this day.

An important component of the participatory opportunities of members in the exhibition history of the museum have been and continue to be member exhibitions—a tradition that has been maintained to this day with different content concepts at the end of each exhibition year.

The contributions of this year's anniversary exhibition by members present the diverse and openly metaphorical interpretations of the theme "Development | 40 | Development" with photographic and film works. Some of those involved interpret the number 40 with different cultural references, while others devote themselves to the courses of time and traces of transience as they become visible in urban contexts. Further content references are made to people born in 1984, and objects from the time are also part of the exhibition's content.

Accompanying the anniversary exhibition will be a publication, whose realization was made possible by the commitment of the working group for the exhibition and the support of members of the Museum für Photographie Braunschweig e.V., the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony, and the Bürgerstiftung.

With works by Walter Ackers | Marlene Apmann | Ina Bichescu | Gerald Borchers | Andreas Bormann | Uwe Brodmann | Maks Dannecker | Dorothee Dersch | Michael Ewen | Brigitta Feulner | Renate Fink | Klaus-Henning Foerster | Dirk M. Franke | Jan Gäbler | Axel Grüner | Elisabeth Kathrin Gutzeit | Johannes Hahn | Irene Heimsch | Jörg Hennings | Ulf Jasmer | Henrike Junge-Gent | Manuela Karin Knaut | Merlin Laumert | Mira Lenk | Ansgar Marx | Petra Müller | Jens Nommel | Helge H. Paulsen | Robert L. Philipps | Dorothea Rieck | Carsten Rohr | Karl-Stéphane Rossignol | Regine Seemann | Iris R. Selke | Norbert Skibinski | Vivien Slopianka | Stefan Spring | Luciana Tamas | Eva-Maria Tornette | Markus Trauberg | Ingrid Vogel-Kjörling | Klaus Wefringhaus | Brigitte Weihmüller | Johann Zambryski