At the height of the Cold War, in 1968, Lothar Wolleh traveled through the Soviet Union. There, he created a portrait series that serves as a reminder that individual humanity endures, even in times of great hostility. It must be made visible to overcome divisions

After more than five years of abduction and forced labor in the coal mines of the Soviet labor camp Vorkuta, Lothar Wolleh returned to Berlin as a free man in January 1956, one day before his 26th birthday. In his possession were a few images secretly created during his imprisonment in the Gulag.

Light as a life elixir

Ironically, this inhospitable place north of the Arctic Circle, just a few kilometers from the "Polar Wolf" camp where Alexei Navalny died, became a place where Lothar Wolleh experienced light as a "life elixir" and as a medium of visibility and invisibility, presence and absence. The camera, as a "light catcher," became for Wolleh an instrument to make the invisible visible.

At the height of the Cold War, Wolleh ventured once again into the realm of his tormentors. This exhibition presents photographs from his captivity and juxtaposes them with portraits of people from all parts of the Soviet Union. It serves as a reminder that individual humanity remains alive, even in times of greatest hostility, and must be made visible to overcome divisions.

Vernissage

Opening Hours March, European Month of Photography 2025