This exhibition has been canceled, postponed or can only be seen by appointment: we have decided to show it to you!
Max Scheler – Der Philosoph unter den Fotografen (The philosopher among the photographers)
Starting the spring season, the Flo Peters Gallery honores the work of photographer Max Scheler with a solo exhibition. 30 works provide an insight into the work of the subtle exceptional artist, who has been wrongly almost forgotten today.
Max Scheler, born in Cologne in 1928 as the son of the German philosopher of the same name, frst studied art history and German studies in Munich, from 1941 he assisted Herbert List and accompanied him on many journeys through Italy, Spain and Greece. The connection between the two exceptional photographers was to become a lifelong friendship. Not only the wanderlust shared the two charming men, but also their love of photography.
In Paris Scheler met Robert Capa, who could win him over to ofer his pictures for the newly founded photo agency Magnum. He initially worked as a freelance photo journalist from Rome for all major magazines in the world. His photo reports can be found in the most important European and American illustrated magazines of his time, including in Today, Look, Picture Post, Paris Match, Epoca, the Munich magazine. From 1959 he followed Henri Nannen’s call to Stern to Hamburg, where he forms the core of the magazine’s picture editing together with Robert Lebeck,
Thomas Hoepker and Stefan Moses. Together they signifcantly shaped the face of the magazine. Later he founded the renowned magazine GEO together with Rolf Gillhausen.
His work as a picture journalist, his multilingualism and his confident social appearance gave him the opportunity to accept worldwide orders for the most important magazines of his time. His passports were often so full of stamps and visas that he often had to apply for a new one before the expiry date. He is a documentary photographer of his time, and not only shows reports from FRG and the GDR, his travels also took him to China (during the Cultural Revolution) and the USA.
He reports on major political events and celebrities from culture and politics, on both sides of the Atlantic. His work is characterized by a special empathy to track down the small nuances of human emotions and to press the trigger at the right moment.
