Gottfried Jäger

Gottfried Jäger

 

Born in 1937. Lives and works in Bielefeld, Germany.

 

 

Born in Germany in 1937, Gottfried Jäger is now recognized as one of the greatest names in German photography.

 

In the Experimental Photography Tradition. Since the programmatic exhibition Generative Fotografie in 1968, Gottfried Jäger has belonged to a European tradition of photo experimentation, especially prevalent in Germany with the Bauhaus in the twenties, the Subjektive Fotografie in the fifties or the Photo School of Kassel since the seventies. He may be seen as the bridge between the golden age of German photography in the twenties and the new generation. Gottfried Jäger has published many books about the history of experimental photography, including the English translations: The Art of Abstract Photography (2002), Concrete Photography (2005) and the last one Light Image and Data Image. Traces of Concrete Photography (2015). He has not only curated a show for the 150th anniversary of photography focused on the history of photo experiments: Photo as Autonomous Picture. Experimental Form 1839-1989 but also dedicated entire books and exhibitions to some of the masters of photo experimentation: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Heinz Hajek-Halke, Carl Strüwe. One of the last exhibitions he initiated, Carl Strüwe in the Context of Contemporary Photography (2012) is an example of Jäger’s program: bringing to light the relevance of historical approaches for contemporary artists. Jäger was close to the Swiss group of Concrete Photography, especially with René Mächler (1936-2008). This relation to Concrete Art has become stronger since the collector Peter C. Ruppert asked him to be the photography adviser for his museum collection Concrete Art in Europe After 1945 in Würzburg (Germany).

 

Links to Conceptual Art. Gottfried Jäger uses experimentation to redefine the objectivity of the photographic process. A parallel can be drawn between his works and those of Bernd and Hilla Becher, and the conceptual art of the 1970s. Gottfried Jäger has been close to the theorist Vilém Flusser whose articles in the 1970s and 1980s were influential for the conceptual artists that used photography. Flusser wrote two articles about Gottfried Jäger’s work. In 2001, Jäger published a book about the impact of Vilém Flusser on contemporary art and theory: Fotografie denken. Über Vilém Flussers Philosophie der Medienmoderne. He also edited a book about Timm Ulrichs in 2012: Fotografieren verboten and has included photographs by John Hilliard, Jan Dibbets, and Timm Rautert in photo history collections that he has published since the 1970s.

 

Computer-Based Image. Gottfried Jäger has been part of some of the most iconic exhibitions around technical- and computer-art made in the 1960s: Experiments in Art and Technology at the Brooklyn Museum, NYC (1968); New Tendencies in Zagreb (1969) and of the show On the Path to Computer Art that traveled around many countries (Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Brazil, France, England) between 1970 and 1976. He has been exhibited with the most famous German computer-artists: Frieder Nake, Georg Nees, and Herbert W. Franke with whom he has also edited two books: Generative Fotografie (1969, with co-author Karl Martin Holzhäuser) and Apparative Kunst. Vom Kaleidoskop zum Computer (1973). He published several articles about his work in Leonardo, the American magazine about computer art; and at the end of the 1960s he was represented by the Clarissa Gallery in Hanover that supported ‘generative’, avant-garde photography, and artists associated with computer art like the those of GRAV and Art et Informatique.

 

Theoretical and Scientific Work. Since 1998, Gottfried Jäger has been the executor of Carl Strüwe’s work. He created the Carl-Strüwe-Archives in Bielefeld, published three books about his work (1982, 2007 and 2012) and organized three solo exhibitions (1966, 2012 and 2015). The books he wrote and the exhibitions he curated have always been related to his own work and main themes. Gottfried Jäger has published more than thirty books, included in English: The Art of Abstract Photography (2002), Can Photography Capture our Time in Images? A time-critical Balance (2004), Concrete Photography (2005) and the last one Light Image and Data Image. Traces of Concrete Photography (2015). These books were about several topics: the experimental, abstract and concrete photography, the relation of art and science, the photography in Germany… Gottfried Jäger has also curated several exhibitions: group and solo shows, about contemporary and historical photography, included most of the time some of his own photographs.

 

Learning and Teaching. Gottfried Jäger studied at the Staatliche Höhere Fachschule für Photographie (National Higher College for Photography) in Cologne (1958-1960). From 1960 to 1972, he was teaching photography at the Werkkunstschule (WKS) Bielefeld. In 1963, he became Professor at the University of Applied Science Bielefeld, where he reminded until 2002. There he set up the graduate program Photo-/Film-Design in 1979 and created the Focus on the Research and Development of Photography and Media at the University of Applied Science Bielefeld, in 1984, the first and only one in Germany.

 

Prizes. In 2014, Gottfried Jäger won the Cultural Award from the German Society for Photography, a prize that some of the most eminent photographers has also been awarded: Stephen Shore (2010), Wolfgang Tillmans (2009), Ed Ruscha (2006), David Hockney (1997), Man Ray (1966), August Sander (1961), or Albert Renger-Patzsch (1960). In 1996, he received the David-Octavius-Hill Medal from the German Academy of Photography. Some other recipients of it were Dieter Appelt in 1999, Joan Fontcuberta in 1988, and John Hilliard in 1986. These two prizes not only crowned Jäger as an eminent photographer, but also established him as a distinguished photo theorist and historian.

 

Museum Collections. Gottfried Jäger’s work is held in the permanent collections of the George Eastman House, Rochester, N. Y.; the Sprengel Museum, Hannover; the Museum Ludwig, Cologne; the Ruppert Collection, Museum Würzburg; the Museum Folkwang, Essen; the Fotomuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich; the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hambourg; and the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

 

 

BIOGRAPHIC SUMMARY

 

BORN: in 1937 in Burg near Magdeburg, Germany

LIVES AND WORKS: in Bielefeld, Germany

 

 

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

 

1958-1960: Studies at the National Higher College for Photography - Staatliche Höhere Fachschule für Photographie in Cologne, Germany.

2011: PhD at the University of Bielefed. Microphotography as Obsession. Carl Strüwe’s Photographic Work (1898-1988)

 

 

REPRESENTED IN PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

 

George Eastman House, Rochester, N. Y., USA

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris

Museum Folkwang, Essen

Museum Ludwig, Cologne

Sprengel Museum, Hannover

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hambourg

Fotomuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich

Museum für Photographie, Braunschweig

Fotomuseum, Burghausen

Sammlung Herbert W. Franke, Kunsthalle, Bremen

Kunsthalle, Bielefeld

Marburger Kunstverein, Marburg

Sammlung Raabe, Salzburg

Sammlung DZ Bank – Kunstsammlung, Frankfurt/Main

Sammlung Peter C. Ruppert: Konkrete Kunst in Europa nach 1945, Permanent Exhibition since

                2002 im Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg

Sammlung Etzold, Programm-Zufall-System, Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach

Sammlung Interartes, Zürich

Internationale Polaroid Collection, Offenbach/Main

Sammlung Deutsche Fotografische Akademie der Stadt Leinfelden-Echterdingen

Musée d'Art et d'Histoire Fribourg, Schweiz

Numerous private collection

 

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION):

 

Gottfried Jäger had solo shows in many countries including Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, USA, and Australia.

 

2012, Kunstverein, Bad Nauheim. Gottfried Jäger and Carl Strüwe : To Make Visible – To Be Visible/Gottfried Jäger und Carl Strüwe: Sichtbar machen – sichtbar sein. Bilder der Fotografie.

2011, Photo Edition, Berlin. Gottfried Jäger: Sequences of Sequences of Sequences of Sequences of Sequences. Concrete Photography/Gottfried Jäger: Folgen von Folgen von Folgen von Folgen von Folgen. Konkrete Fotografie.

2008-2009, Epson Kunstbetrieb, Düsseldorf. Karl Martin Holzhäuser and Gottfried Jäger: Real Light/Karl Martin Holzhäuser und Gottfried Jäger: Realer Schein. (Cat.)

2007, Beaugrands Kulturkonzepte, Bielefeld. Gottfried Jäger. Photography as Generative System/Gottfried Jäger. Fotografie als generatives System. (Cat.)

2006, Alte Synagoge /Kunstverein Oerlinghausen.  Gottfried Jäger. Image System. Concrete Photography/Gottfried Jäger. Bildsysteme. Konkrete Fotografie.

1996, In focus, Galerie am Dom, Cologne. Gottfried Jäger and René Mächler: Constructive Photo Works/Gottfried Jäger und René Mächler: Konstruktive Fotoarbeiten. (Prospect)

1995, Michael Senft, One Bond Gallery, New York. Gottfried Jäger: Photo Paper Works.

1994, Bielefelder Kunstverein, Museum Waldhof, Bielefeld. Gottfried Jäger. Interface. Generative Works/Gottfried Jäger. Schnittstelle. Generative Arbeiten. (Cat.)

1992, Kunstverein, Paderborn. Gottfried Jäger: Light Image Space/Gottfried Jäger. Licht Bild Raum. Fotogene Projekte. (Cat.)

1989, Marburger Kunstverein, Marburg. Gottfried Jäger: Photo Objects/ Gottfried Jäger. Fotoplastische Objekte. (Cat.)

1988, Fotoforum, Bremen. Gottfried Jäger; Between, Through. Photo Paper Works 1983-1988/Gottfried Jäger: zwischen, durch. Fotopapierarbeiten 1983–1988. (Cat.)

1982, Fotomuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich. Gottfried Jäger. Photographs. Generative Works/Gottfried Jäger. Lichtbilder. Generative Arbeiten.

1979, Werkstatt für Fotografie, VHS Kreuzberg, Berlin. Karl Martin Holzhäuser / Gottfried Jäger: Generative Photography/ Karl Martin Holzhäuser / Gottfried Jäger: Generative Fotografie.

1976, Im Schloß, Detmolder Kunstverein, Detmold. Gottfried Jäger. Technical Graphics/Gottfried Jäger. Apparative Grafik.

1975, Galerie Le Disque Rouge, Brussels. Gottfried Jäger.Technical Graphics/Gottfried Jäger. Apparative Grafik.

1967, Galerie Clarissa, Hannover. Gottfried Jäger.Photograms/Gottfried Jäger. Fotogramme, Fotografien.

1965, Disco-Galerie, Basel. Gottfried Jäger.Light Graphics/Gottfried Jäger. Lichtgrafik. (Prospect)

1964, Kunstsalon Otto Fischer, Bielefeld. Gottfried Jäger.Photographs, Light Graphics/Gottfried Jäger. Fotografien, Lichtgrafik. (Prospect)

 

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION):

 

2015, Museum im Kulturspeicher, Wurzburg. Light Image and Data Image/Traces of Concrete Photography. (Cat.)

2008, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM), Karlsruhe. bit international. New Tendencies. Art and Visual Research, Zagreb 1961-1973/ bit international. Nove tendencije. Kunst und visuelle Forschung, Zagreb 1961-1973.

2005-2006, Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg. Concrete Photography/Fotografie konkret – Konkrete Fotografie. Mit Licht gestalten ohne Kamera.

2002, Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg. Concrete Art in Europe After 1945. Collection Peter C. Ruppert/ Konkrete Kunst in Europa nach 1945. Sammlung Peter C. Ruppert. (Permanent exhibition)

2001, Museum für Photographie, Braunschweig. Photography in Germany After 1945. Collection Schupman/Fotografie in Deutschland nach 1945. Sammlung Schupmann. (Cat.)

2000, Kunsthalle, Bielefeld. Abstract Photography/Abstrakte Fotografie. (Cat.)

2000, Versicherungskammer Bayern, Munich.Pioneers of German Photography/Pioniere deutscher Fotografie.

1999, WDR–Landesstudio, Bielefeld. Technical Art. From Photography to Multimedia. Works from the Applied School of Bielefeld/Apparative Kunst. Von Fotografie bis Multimedia. Arbeiten aus der Fachhochschule Bielefeld.

1996, Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie , Arles. La corne de la licorne. Alchimie optique.

1995, Kunsthalle, Bielefeld. László Moholy-Nagy: Ideas and Developments. Resonance of His Work in Contemporary Art/László Moholy-Nagy: Idee und Wirkung. Anklänge an sein Werk in der zeitgenössischen Kunst. (Cat.)

1989-90, Kunsthalle, Bielefeld and Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste, Munich. Photography als an Autonomous Image. Experimental Form 1839-1989/Das Foto als autonomes Bild. Experimentelle Gestaltung 1839–1989. (Cat.)

1989-1991, Travelling exhibition shown in: Morehead State University, Morehead; Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia; Augustinermuseum, Freiburg. Document And Invention. Photographs from BDR since 1945/Dokument und Erfindung. Fotografien aus der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1945 bis heute. (Cat.)

1988, Travelling Exhibition shown in: Warsaw, Wroclaw, Gdansk, Cracow, Poznan. Contemporary Photography from BDR/Inszenierungen. Zeitgenössische Fotografie aus der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. (Cat.)

1986, Photokina, Cologne. 50 Years of Modern Color Photography 1936-1986/50 Jahre moderne Farbfotografie 1936–1986. Photokina-Bilderschau.

1986, Kunsthalle Bielefeld. Position in Experimental Photography/Positionen experimenteller Fotografie. Bielefelder Autoren.

1985, Museum für Fotografie, Braunschweig. Contemporary German Photographers/Zeitgenössische Deutsche Fotografen. Neue Arbeiten.

1983, The Franklin Institute Science Museum, Philadelphia and 1984, IBM-Gallery, New York. Lensless Photography. 1. (Cat.)

1983, Fotomuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich. Photograms/Fotogramme: Die lichtreichen Schatten. (Cat.)

1981, Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle Cologne. Colors in Photo. The History of Color Photography from 1861 to 1981/Farbe im Photo. Die Geschichte der Farbphotographie von 1861 bis 1981. (Cat.)

1979, Deutsches Museum, Munich. Photographs von ars electronica/Strom für unser Leben. Fotografien von der ars electronica. (Cat.)

1979-1980, , Kunstverein, Kassel ; Overbeck-Gesellschaft, Lübeck. PPS-Galerie, Hambourg. German Photographers After 1945/Deutsche Fotografen nach 1945. (Cat.)

1979, Stadtmuseum München. Photography 1919-1979. Photographers from the Gesellschaft Deutscher Lichtbildner (GDL)/Fotografie 1919–1979. Die Fotografen der Gesellschaft Deutscher Lichtbildner (GDL). (Cat.)

1976, Galerie spectrum, Hannover. Generative Photography. Visual Constructions and Investigations/Generative Fotografie. Visuelle Konstruktionen und Untersuchungen. (Prospect)

1975, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart. Photography 1929-1975/Fotografie 1929–1975. (Cat.)

1975, Internationaal Cultureel Centrum, Antwerpen. Generative Photography: Pierre Cordier, Karl Martin Holzhäuser, Gottfried Jäger/Generative Fotografie: Pierre Cordier, Karl Martin Holzhäuser, Gottfried Jäger. (Cat.)

1973, Städtisches Museum, Mönchengladbach. Program-Random-System. Collection Etzold/Programm–Zufall–System. Die Sammlung Etzold. (Cat.)

1970–1976, Travelling Exhibition made by the Goethe-Institute, shown in: Berlin (IDZ), Zürich (ETH), Goethe-Institutes in Tokyo, Sao Paolo, Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Bordeaux (SIGMA 9, 1973), Marseille, Angers:  London (Polytechnic of Central). On the Way to Computer Art/Wege zur Computerkunst.

1970, Fachhochschule für Gestaltung, Kiel. On the Way to Computer Art/Auf dem Wege zur Computerkunst (Basset, Gravenhorst, Jäger, Franke, Nake, Nees).

1970, Kongresshalle Davos, Schweiz. On the Way to Computer Art/ Auf dem Wege zur Computerkunst (Basset, Gravenhorst, Jäger, Franke, Nake, Nees).

1969, Muzej za umjetnost i obrt, Zagreb. New Tendencies/Nova tendencija 4. Neue künstlerische Tendenzen. (Cat.)

1969, 2. Karlsruher Tage für Experimentelle Kunst und Kunstwissenschaft. Universität und UBU e. V., Karlsruhe. On the Way to Computer Art/Auf dem Wege zur Computergrafik: Klaus Basset, Hein Gravenhorst, Gottfried Jäger, Herbert W. Franke, Georg Nees.

1968, Brooklyn-Museum, New York. Experiments in Art and Technology. (Cat.)

1968, Kestner Museum, Hannover.Photo Graphic. Collection Clarissa Gallery/Foto-Grafik. Sammlung Galerie Clarissa. (Prospect)

1968, Volkshochschule, Cologne. Elementary Photography/Fotografie elementar. Vier europäische Schulen für Fotografie und ihre Grundlehre. (Prospect)

1968, Kunsthaus, Bielefeld. Generative Photography/Generative Fotografie (Kilian Breier, Pierre Cordier, Hein Gravenhorst, Gottfried Jäger). (Prospect)

1966, Photokina-Bilderschau, Cologne. Photography Between Science and Art/Fotografie zwischen Wissenschaft und Kunst. (Cat.)

1965, Huidevettershuis, Bruges. Photography’65. Experimental European Photography/Fotografie ’65. Experimentelle europäische Fotografie. (Cat.)

 

 

BOOKS (SELECTION)

Gottfried Jäger has published more than 30 books, included in English: The Art of Abstract Photography (2002), Can Photography Capture our Time in Images? A time-critical Balance (2004), Concrete Photography (2005) and the last one Light Image and Data Image. Traces of Concrete Photography (2015).

 

Monographs on Gottfried Jäger’s Work:

Upcoming:

Bernd Stiegler (Ed.), Gottfried Jäger. Abstrakte, concrete und generative Fotografie. Gesammelte Schriften. Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 2016.

 

Andreas Beaugrand (Ed.), Gottfried Jäger. Fotografie als generatives System, Bielefeld: Verlag für Druckgrafik, 2007.

Gottfried Jäger, Lambert Wiesing, Abstrakte Fotografie: Bildmöglichkeiten / Denkmöglichkeiten. 
Cat. for Gottfried Jäger: Generative Images. Text German /Englisch. Bielefeld: Lutz Teutloff Galerie, 2000.

Claudia Gabriele Philipp (Ed.), Gottfried Jäger, Indizes. Generative Arbeiten 1967-1996. Drei Projekte. Ed. for the David-Octavius-Hill-Medaille 1996, Deutsche Fotografische Akademie, Germany in connection with the Cultural Prize - Kunstpreis of the city Leinfelden-Echterdingen. Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag, 1996.

Andreas Beaugrand (Ed.), Gottfried Jäger. Schnittstelle. Generative Arbeiten. Cat. For the Bielefelder Kunstverein. Interview mit Andreas Beaugrand. Texte: Vilém Flusser, Helmut Heißenbüttel, Gottfried Jäger. Bielefeld: Pendragon-Verlag, 1994.

Gottfried Jäger. Licht Bild Raum. Fotogene Projekte 1980-1990.  Cat. Texts Gerhard Glüher and Vilém Flusser. Kunstverein Paderborn. Stuttgart: Lindemanns Buchhandlung und Verlag, 1992.

Fotoästhetik. Zur Theorie der Fotografie. Texte aus den Jahren 1965 bis 1990, Munich: Laterna magica, 1991.

Gottfried Jäger. Fotoplastische Objekte. Cat. Texts Gerhard Glüher. Marburg, Marburger Kunstverein, 1989.

Gottfried Jäger. zwischen, durch. Fotopapierarbeiten 1983 - 1988.  Cat. Fotoforum Bremen, 1988.

Gottfried Jäger. Fotografien, Lichtgrafik.  Bielefeld, Kunstsalon Otto Fischer, 1964.

 

Books by Gottfried Jäger

On Experimental, Abstract and Concrete Photography:

Henrike Holsing, Gottfried Jäger (Ed.): Lichtbild und Datenbild. Spuren Konkreter Fotografie / Light Image and Data Image. Traces of Concrete Photography, Cat. Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg, Heidelberg: Kehrer Verlag, 2014.

Gottfried Jäger, Rolf H. Krauss, Beate Reese (Ed.), Concrete Photography / Konkrete Fotografie, Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag, 2005.

Die Kunst der Abstrakten Fotografie / The Art of Abstract Photography, Stuttgart/New York: Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2002.

J. A. Schmoll gen. Eisenwerth, Jutta Hülsewig-Johnen, Gottfried Jäger, Das Foto als autonomes Bild. Experimentelle Gestaltung 1839–1989, Kunsthalle Bielefeld / Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste Munich, Stuttgart: Edition Cantz, 1989.

Karl Martin Holzhäuser, Gottfried Jäger, Generative Fotografie. Theoretische Grundlegung, Kompendium und Beispiele einer fotografischen Bildgestaltung, Ravensbourg: Otto Maier Verlag, 1975.

Herbert W. Franke, Hein Gravenhorst, Gottfried Jäger, Generative Fotografie. Grundlagen einer kybernetischen Theorie der Kunst, Bielefeld: Self-publication, 1969.

 

On Art and Science:

Andreas Dress, Gottfried Jäger (Ed.): Visualisierung in Mathematik, Wissenschaft und Kunst. Grundlagen und Anwendungen. Braunschweig, Wiesbaden: Vieweg Verlag, 1999.

Herbert W. Franke, Gottfried Jäger, Apparative Kunst. Vom Kaleidoskop zum Computer, Cologne: DuMont Schauberg, 1973.

 

On Carl Strüwe’s Work:

Jutta Hülsewig-Johnen, Gottfried Jäger, Thomas Thiel: Carl Strüwe. Reisen in unbekannte Welten, Cat., Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 2012.

Mikrofotografie als Obsession. Das fotografische Werk von Carl Strüwe (1898–1988), PhD, Bielefeld: Verlag für Druckgrafik, 2007.

Gottfried Jäger, Carl Strüwe. Das fotografische Werk 1924 - 1962. Düsseldorf: Edition Marzona, Reihe Retrospektive Fotografie, 1982.

 

On Other Photographers and Photo-Theorists:

Gottfried Jäger (Ed.): Fotografie denken. Über Vilém Flussers Philosophie der Medienmoderne. Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag, 2001.

Gottfried Jäger, Gudrun Wessing (Ed.): Über Moholy-Nagy. Ergebnisse aus dem Internationalen László Moholy-Nagy-Symposium, Bielefeld, 1995. Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag, 1997.

 

 

AWARDS

 

Culture Award 2014 of German Society of Photography, 2014 (other recipients: Stephen Shore in 2010, Wolfgang Tillmans in 2009, Ed Ruscha in 2006, David Hockney in 1997, Man Ray in 1966, August Sander in 1961, Albert Renger-Patzsch in 1960…).

Stuttgart Photobook Award 2003, Germany for The Art of Abstract Photography, 2003.

David-Octavius-Hill-medal, Deutsche Fotografische Akademie, Germany, 1996 (other recipients: Dieter Appelt in 1999, Joan Fontcuberta in 1988, John Hilliard in 1986…).

George Eastman-medal in gold, Kodak AG, Stuttgart, Germany, 1992.

Photokina-Obelisk, Cologne, Germany, 1966.

 

 

TEACHING

 

Visiting Professor Photography at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) 1999-2012.

Creation of the Focus on Research and Development Photography - Forschungs- und Entwicklungsschwerpunkt Fotografie und Medien at the University of Applied Science - Fachhochschule (FH) Bielefeld, the first and only one in Germany 1984. Speaker until 2002.

Setting-up of the graduate program Photo-/Film-Design – Foto-/Film-Design (Today Photography and Media – Fotografie und Medien) 1979.

Professor at the University of Applied Science - Fachhochschule (FH) Bielefeld, Germany 1973–2002.

Teacher for Photo technic at the Werkkunstschule (WKS) Bielefeld, Germany 1960–1972.

 

 

SCIENTIFIC AND CONSULTANT WORK

 

Since 2002: Consultant about Concrete Photography for the Collection Peter C. Ruppert – Concrete Art in Europe after 1945 at the Museum im Kulturspeicher, Wuerzburg.

2006: Co-organization of the symposium Fotografie Konkret / Concrete Photography, Gmunden, Austria. Publication Wien/Klagenfurt: Ritter Edition, 2007.

Since 1998: Executor of Carl Strüwe’s Work. Creation of the Carl-Strüwe-Archives in Bielefeld.

1979: Setting-up of the annual Bielefeld Symposium on Photography and Media - Bielefelder Symposien ueber Fotografie und Medien (Today: Bielefeld Photo-Symposium - Bielefelder Fotosymposien).

Editorial collaborator for many years for European Photography, biannual art magazine for contemporary photography and new media, founded in 1980.

 

Publications of the Bielefeld Photo-Symposiums:

2010: Martin Roman Deppner, Gottfried Jäger (Ed.) Denkprozesse der Fotografie. 30 Jahre Bielefelder Fotosymposien. Beiträge zur Bildtheorie, Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag.

2004: Jörg Boström, Gottfried Jäger (Ed.): Kann Fotografie unsere Zeit in Bilder fassen? Eine zeitkritische Bilanz / Can Photography Capture our Time in Images? A time-critical balance. Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag.

1986: Gottfried Jäger (Dir.), Jörg Boström, Karl Martin Holzhäuser: Gegen die Indifferenz der Fotografie. Die Bielefelder Symposien über Fotografie 1979-1985. Beiträge zur ästhetischen Theorie und Praxis der Fotografie. Fachhochschule Bielefeld. Düsseldorf: Edition Marzona.

 

 

CURATORIAL WORK

 

Gottfried Jäger has organized several exhibitions included:

Two exhibitions on Heinz Hajek-Halke (1965, 1983); three on Carl Strüwe (1966, 2012, 2015), one on László Moholy-Nagy for the century of his birthday (1995) and one big show for the 150th anniversary of photography in 1989: Das Foto als autonomes Bild. Experimentalle Gestaltung 1839-1989 (Photo as an autonomous image. Experimental Form 1839-1989).

 

Selection of exhibitions organized and curated by Gottfried Jäger:

2012, Kunsthalle Bielefeld. Carl Strüwe. Travels into Unknown Worlds/Reisen in unbekannte Welten. With Jutta Hülsewig-Johnen. (Cat.)

1995, Kunsthalle Bielefeld. László Moholy-Nagy: Ideas and Developments. Resonance of His Work in Contemporary Art/Idee und Wirkung. Anklänge an sein Werk in der zeitgenössischen Kunst. With Jutta Hülsewig-Johnen. 12 international artists. (Cat.)

1989-1990, Kunsthalle Bielefeld and Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste, Munich.  Photography als an Autonomous Image. Experimental Form 1839-1989/Das Foto als autonomes Bild. Experimentelle Gestaltung 1839–1989. With Jutta Hülsewig-Johnen and J. A. Schmoll gen. Eisenwerth. (Cat.)

1983, Galerie Jesse and Haus Neuland, Bielefeld. Memorial Exhibition for Heinz Hajek-Halke (1898-1983)/Lichtsprache. Gedächtnisausstellung für Heinz Hajek-Halke (1898-1983). (Prospect )

1982, Hochschulgalerie FH Bielefeld. The Art-Engineer/Der Kunstingenieur. Gestaltung im Schnittfeld zwischen künstlerischen und technischen Denkweisen. (Cat.)

1968, Kunsthaus Bielefeld. Generative Photography/Generative Fotografie. Works by Kilian Breier, Pierre Cordier, Hein Gravenhorst, Gottfried Jäger. (Prospect)

1968, Werkkunstschule Bielefeld. Electronic Graphics/Elektronische Grafik: Herbert W. Franke. (Prospect)

1966, Werkkunstschule Bielefeld. Microphotography: Carl Strüwe, Manfred Kage /Mikrofotografien: Carl Strüwe, Manfred Kage. (Prospect)

1965, Werkkunstschule Bielefeld. Light Graphics: Heinz Hajek-Halke/Lichtgrafik: Heinz Hajek-Halke. (Prospect)