The lives of others: Ute Mahler's images of the real East Germany – in pictures Mahler was relatively 'free' in his choice of subject matter, but still - like all East German photographers - had to tread a careful line.
What I like about them is a somewhat seamless synthesis of documentary and theatricality. A combo of realism and staged-ness that effectively conveys directness and a heightened sense of awareness and engagement.
Thanks for the link. For me she was one of the greatest. The quality of her photography after the fall of the wall can easily hold up with her G.D.R. work. I love her Polaroids as well. Here's another link to her agency: Ute Mahler: Ostkreuz
If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you'll see a link that says "Alle Arbeiten von Ute Mahler". That means "all works of Ute Mahler."
If you browse through the Ostkreuz homepage you will discover many treasures of former east german photographers, like the Hauswalds, Sybille Bergemann, Werner Mahler and many more.
Thanks for these. As Samstevens said. Plus its interesting that the cloths and hair styles remind me of California in the 60s. Thank you JDMvW, great find.
Wow, this is my kind of photography! Danke schoen, JDMvW and machts gut. (read 'oe' as o with an umlaut ).
ö If you’re on a tablet or a phone, try pressing the o a bit longer and you should get choices of accents to include. If on a traditional keyboard, you should have access to a keyboard map which will let you know the character combinations to use to get the accented character.
Great pictures! And life in East Germany didn't seem so bad IMHO. Anyway, it's a great chance to visit Sete, one of my favorite towns in France.