Neue Frau, Neues Sehen. Die Bauhaus-Fotografinnen

Museum für Fotografie, Jebensstraße 2, 10623, Berlin

April 17, 2026 – October 4, 2026

Outstanding female photographers have existed since the invention of photography in the early 19th century. Many of them were pioneers in this field. They experimented with photographic and design techniques and explored the limits of the new medium. The same goes for Bauhaus photographers. They observed their surroundings through the camera lens and captured numerous subjects in sometimes new and unfamiliar perspectives. The spectrum of her artistic work ranges from representational portrait and architectural photography to abstract experimental photography. The exhibition shows about 300 photographs from the collection of the Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung, Berlin. The motifs are known to many today, but their authors are few. With the exhibition, the Bauhaus Archive is now comprehensively honoring the importance of these artists and their photographic work for the first time. The photographs are complemented by works by artists from the Institute of Design in Chicago (New Bauhaus), the successor institution of the Bauhaus in the USA. Even in the 21st century, female artists deal with photography in a variety of ways. Like the Bauhaus photographers, they also try to capture their present in the photographic image, questioning the conventional forms of the medium. For the exhibition, the Bauhaus Archive invited the three contemporary artists Kalinka Gieseler, Caroline Kynast and Sinta Werner to enter into a dialogue with the historical positions with their works.