Everybody taking pictures? Everyday photography as Jena's visual memory
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Everybody taking pictures? Discover Jena's visual everyday history at the City Museum
The exhibition Everybody taking pictures? Everyday and amateur photography in Jena invites you from September 4 to December 30, 2026, to a multifaceted exploration of photography, memory, and community. At the City Museum Jena, historical photographs from the museum's collections, private image archives, and materials from photo clubs meet current works by social media photographers.
Photography between memory and everyday life
Photography appears here not only as an artistic medium but as a cultural practice that makes personal life stories and societal change visible. Family pictures, city views, and private snapshots preserve memories, create identity, and document the changes in Jena. The exhibition asks how images shape our interactions and what role they play as social connectors.
From early amateur photography to digital imagery
The curation spans the beginnings of amateur photography through the photo circles of the GDR to today's image practices in social media. Analog image worlds meet smartphone photography and digital forms of sharing. This reveals how technical processes, subjects, and public perceptions of images have changed.
The UNIFOK Photo Club Jena
A special emphasis is placed on the long-established UNIFOK Photo Club Jena, which has shaped the photographic scene of the city since the 1960s. Its archives provide insights into the photographic work of amateur photographers in the GDR and show how communal learning, aesthetic experience, and critical work examination have shaped local photo culture.
Photography as cultural education
The exhibition combines photography history, city history, media culture, and visual anthropology. In the exhibition atmosphere, documentary precision and personal closeness enter into dialogue. Black-and-white shots, private image series, and contemporary digital image languages open up new perspectives on everyday life, society, and the photographic memory of a city.
Research and regional context
The project is part of a nationwide research and transfer project on amateur and everyday photography. Involved are, among others, the Institute for Saxon History and Folklore, the University of Göttingen, the Seminar for Cultural Anthropology and Cultural History at the University of Jena, the Technical Collections Dresden, and the LWL Museum Henrichshütte. Thus, the exhibition connects local collection history with current cultural scientific research.
Conclusion: An artistic experience about images that connect us
Visitors can expect a knowledgeably curated and sensually stimulating exhibition that intertwines photo art, city history, and digital present. Everybody taking pictures? sharpens the view for the images of one's own everyday life and makes it tangible how photography creates closeness, documents change, and preserves cultural memory. Visit the exhibition live at the City Museum Jena and discover familiar image worlds with new eyes.
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- Website: https://www.stadtmuseum-jena.de/de/ausstellungen/wechselausstellungen/1047150?template_id=6059
