Just a few days ago, January
1, was the second anniversary of the death of East German photographer of the
female nude, Günter Rössler. He died at the
age of 86.
Günter Rössler in december 2005 in his studio in Markleeberg by Leipzig
In the West he was often
referred to as Helmut Newton of the DDR. He himself didn’t like this title at all. He preferred to show women more pensive and
assertive at the same time in the sensitive aesthetics of black and white. He explained on his 85th birthday,
“With Newton, the poses dominate. For me
it is important to show the highest possible authenticity of the girls”.
Günter Rössler worked
with a multitude of cameras, including Leica.
"Renate" 1069
He became famous with his
photographs in fashion magazines like “Sybille” and “Magazin”, a journal which
published a nude photograph on a monthly basis, more often than not
photographed by Günter Rössler. In addition
Rössler became the head photographer for the DDR fashion magazine “Modische
Maschen” (Fashionable Mesh) which was published four times per year with
fashion photographs, including knitting instructions, which made it one of the
most popular magazines of then DDR.
In 1984 even Playboy
published a ten page pictorial of Rössler’s nude photographs titled
"Mädchen der DDR" (Girls of the GDR) in their German edition. The Playboy concept of the girl next door
presented no problem for Rössler, it was simply the result of his daily work
routine. Since modeling was not very
well paid under the East German socialism, Rössler’s subjects usually were not
professional models.
"Heidrun" 1977
After the German
reunification, Rössler’s popularity initially suffered considerably. He was told that his work was no longer
needed. The East German magazines that
he had worked for were all discontinued by 1995. Even Playboy had little interest in his work
after the reunification.
"Jutta" 1974
However, in recent years Rössler
and his work gained renewed interest. In
2005 he published a new book with the title "Mein Leben in vielen
Akten" (My live in many nudes) which turned out to be an autobiography
with a multitude of photographs. In 2010
he followed with the publication of "Starke Frauen im Osten" (Strong
women of the East) and "Akte 1953-2010" (Nudes 1953 – 2010). Finally, in 2012 a documentary film by Fred
R. Willitzkat called "Die Genialität des Augenblicks" (The genius of
the moment) paid tribute to the photographer.
"Stefanie" 1997
Anyone interested in this genre of photography will do well to remember the genius of Günter Rössler and his
work.
Other articles about nude photography:
FINE ART NUDE PHOTOGRAPHY
FINE ART NUDE PHOTOGRAPHY –
GALLERY 2
FINE ART NUDES – A DIFFERENT
APPROACH
PHOTOSHOP ART
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Is that a Leica that Rossler is holding in the picture?
ReplyDeleteNo, it is a medium format Rollei, most likely a Rolleiflex 6008
DeleteHow can you tell? The camera is hardly visible.
DeleteThe orange shutter release button is a dead give-away.
DeleteIf Rossler shot with a Rolleiflex, why is this article on a Leica blog?
ReplyDeleteAs I explained in the article, Rössler shot with a variety of cameras, including Leica.
Delete