Robert Lebeck in Schleswig

“Photography is the waste product of art,” a Cologne art professor once said. These reservations about photography by those responsible for culture and museums are now a thing of the past: photographic projects now play a role in almost all galleries and museums - often a leading one. The great importance of photography for Schleswig and the city museum is impressively documented in the exhibition “Newly discovered!” not only by the historical image archive, but also by exemplary works by important contemporary photographers. These pictures came to the museum as purchases or donations.

Robert Lebeck (1929-2014), one of the most important photo reporters

Through this route, Robert Lebeck (1929-2014), one of the most important photojournalists in German media history, is also represented in the collection. Whether Romy Schneider in a flat cap, Joseph Beuys with an axe, Willy Brandt at his resignation as Chancellor, or Alfred Hitchcock behind a door – Lebeck's photographs captured great moments of the 20th century and often became iconic.

The moving portrait of Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill at Robert Kennedy's coffin in 1968 belongs in this series, as does the action-packed photograph of Ayatollah Khomeini. When the leader of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 had his turban ripped from his head in jubilation upon his return to Iran, "Bob" Lebeck was once again on hand at the right moment. It was by no means without risk to photograph Khomeini in a moment of weakness.

Exhibitions in the “Competence Center for Photography”

Works by Robert Lebeck were shown in two exhibitions in the city museum: “Portraits” (1996) and “Unverschämtes Glück” (2005). In both cases, Bob insisted on attending the press conferences and openings in person. We remember him as an extremely likeable person with no airs and graces who could talk fascinatingly about his photographic adventures around the world.

Almost 100 photo exhibitions and associated projects for 30 years now reflect the unique selling point of the city museum as a “state-wide competence center for photography,” as the former Schleswig-Holstein Prime Minister Peter Harry Carstensen once put it. Following on from this, a journalist recently wrote aptly in a report about a photo exhibition at the city museum: “Photography and Schleswig: a long history and an exciting future”.

This post is part of a series of articles about the Exhibition “Schleswig Rediscovered!” in the city museum (until March 13, 2016) and was published in the “Schleswiger Nachrichten” on March 8, 2016.