Sally Larsen, a Native American artist, set out to explore the perception of Native Americans by photographers and quickly stumbled upon a surprising discovery. It appears that those that were most interested in documenting the Native American culture happened to be German-American photographers wanting to capture this historic side of their adopted homeland.
After more than a decade of gathering photographs, Larsen is premiering “The German Eye in America” exhibit today, October 25, at the San Francisco Goethe-Institut. Photos on display include works by popular German artists, including Ingeborg Gerde, Patrick Trefz and Thomas Heinser. The exhibit provides a look at Sally Larsen’s curiosity on whether or not “the consideration paid to indigenous people by German-born photographers reflects an innate disposition… Might we carry our point-of-view in our DNA? Does a genetic thread connect these German-born photo artists with the spirit of Karl May, von Humboldt, Goethe, and Gutenberg? Is there any such thing as a genetics of aesthetics?
“The German Eye in America” will be on display at San Francisco’s Goethe-Institut until November 30, 2012. For information on times and place, visit the Goethe-Institute source link below.
Source: Deutschland.de, San Francisco Goethe-Institut
Photo by sallylarsen.com
