Ute Mahler

SET Hennigsdorf, unbekannt, 1982 | Dresden, unbekannt, 1986

Hennigsdorf, unbekannt, 1982

Dresden, unbekannt, 1986

Two silver gelatin prints from the series Zusammenleben Sheet size 30,00 x 40,00 cm Image size 22,00 x 33,00 cm Signed and numbered Limited edition of 18 + 3 AP Set


Outstanding in her field, Ute Mahler is among the most stylistically definitive photographers from former East Germany. Her humanistic worldview has been reflected in numerous, highly regarded photography projects. She became well-known in the seventies, largely through her work for the East German women’s magazine Sibylle. Mahler’s photographs were more than pure fashion photography: “We did not just photograph fashion; we created images that were important to us,” describes the photographer. As a founding member of OSTKREUZ, the most successful photographer-managed agency in Germany, she honed her artistic outlook: “At the time we considered ourselves documentary photographers with a subjective approach, as we still to today. I admit this is a contradictory idea, but we are convinced that objectivity does not exist.”
A meanwhile legendary body of work, exemplary of her oeuvre, is the series Zusammenleben (Living Together), which captured moments in everyday life from the seventies and eighties: “Breathe in for just a moment, and then they are back again” (Sibylle Berg). Quiet, atmospheric moments that paint an authentic unadulterated image of society at the time and that operated outside of the realm of censorship due to their precisely incidental character. We are pleased to be able to offer two gelatin-silver motifs from this contemporary document of life in the GDR, which may be purchased individually or as a set.