Everyone takes pictures? at the Jena City Museum: Photography between everyday life and memory
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How photography tells about our everyday life, our memories, and our city
The exhibition Everyone takes pictures? Everyday and amateur photography in Jena at the Jena City Museum offers a perspective on a visual history that begins in daily life. From early amateur images through photo circles of the GDR to smartphone photography on social media, the exhibition examines how people photograph, share images, and connect with each other through photography.
Between family albums and city history
Historical photographs from the collections of the City Museum, private archives, and photo clubs enter into a compelling dialogue with current works by social media photographers. The photographs preserve personal memories, document social changes, and make visible how the perception of Jena has changed over time.
Amateur photography as a cultural practice
The exhibition honors photography not only as a technical image production but as a cultural practice. The focus is on questions of belonging, memory, and social exchange. Especially the long-standing photo circle UNIFOK Jena, which has shaped the photographic scene of the city since the 1960s, illustrates the importance of communal learning and shaping.
From analog prints to digital feeds
The aesthetic experience of the exhibition arises from the contrast of different image worlds: analog prints, private snapshots, documentary photographs, and digital image practices show different forms of intimacy and publicity. Five thematic areas make it clear how photographing is learned, developed further, and shared in everyday life.
Art historical and scientific classification
As an exhibition on everyday and amateur photography, the project connects work examination, city history, and cultural education. It is part of a nationwide research and transfer project coordinated by the Institute for Saxon History and Folklore in Dresden and the Institute for Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology at the University of Göttingen, sponsored by the German Research Foundation. Also involved are the Seminar for Cultural Anthropology and Cultural History at the University of Jena, the Technical Collections Dresden, and the LWL Museum Henrichshütte in Hattingen.
Conclusion: A lively art experience about seeing
The exhibition makes it tangible that photography means much more than a captured motif. It is a memory store, a means of expression, a social link, and a mirror of a changing society. Those who want to rediscover Jena, its people, and the history of photographic seeing will experience an inspiring exhibition at the City Museum that bridges personal visual memory and collective city history.
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- Website: https://www.jenakultur.de/de/veranstaltungen/1047138?template_id=5951
