From April 1 to July 17, the Ernst Leitz Museum Wetzlar in Germany is presenting “Thomas Hoepker – Image Maker”, a comprehensive retrospective of the German Magnum photographer’s work.
Since the 1960s, Thomas Hoepker has helped define German photojournalism like few others. Starting as a permanent contributor to major magazines, as a photographer and correspondent, but also as an art director and internationally renowned Magnum photographer.
Hoepker is today considered one of the most important representatives of engaged, empathic photojournalism. Even so, he only ever humbly saw himself as an assignment photographer – an image maker. Someone interested in nothing less than the truth, in the veracity of the moment.
The large exhibition at Ernst Leitz Museum Wetzlar includes around 180 motifs, taken from Hoepker's rich lifetime oeuvre and multilayered archive. Within the display are numerous images that have long been considered iconic, as well as many never-shown-before photographs, including completely new ones. The exhibition traces the most formative stages of the photographer's career, beginning with work from the 1950s, and presenting his most important motifs in a loose chronological sequence.
