architecture
Heinrich Heidersberger undoubtedly owes his reputation among photographers to his photographs of architecture. It was as early as the 1930s that he captured ceramic house signs fashioned by sculptress Hilde Broer in the Leegebruch housing estate near Berlin on film and attracted the attention of architect Herbert Rimpl. As a result, Rimpl, who was the architect in charge, awarded him a contract to document the planning and construction of the Heinkel aircraft factory and the adjoining workers' village in Berlin Oranienburg.
This was when Heidersberger first experimented with infrared film, making it possible to create a "black" sky, which quickly became his own personal trademark. Rimpl was enthusiastic about Heidersberger's holistic view on photographing exactly how buildings are used and daily life on the factory premises. (Rimpl quote). The photographs were published shortly before the outbreak of World War II and are the basis for his reputation as a photographer of modern architecture today.
During the war years, he worked as an industrial photographer in the "Braunschweig Steel Works", where the autodidact was able to hone his technical skills further. In the years after the war, which were marked by a flurry of building activity, Heidersberger proceeded to establish a solid reputation in architects' circles and photographed for no less than Alvar Aalto, Walter Henn, Friedrich Wilhelm Kraemer and Dieter Oesterlen.
The "Braunschweig School" was fascinated by his professionalism and by his unique depth of focus. The ability to capture building facades graphically without losing sight of the functionality continues to give a unique character to his practical work today - for all the fascination we may have for the form, the functionality must always remain recognizable. As long as conclusions can always be drawn about the larger context, the day-to-day work of the architect will be obvious (quote by Heinrich).
Young Heinrich Heidersberger's enthusiasm for the challenge to capture modern buildings on film was coupled with an indefatigable curiosity for new formats and great perseverance. He continually made structural alterations in his equipment. The so typically long facades shot at a relatively short distance were first made possible by the structural changes he made to the tripod, creating a perspective from below.
In addition, Heidersberger had very specific ideas about what he wanted as an end result and it was not unusual for him to wait days for exactly the right light. During the 1960s, for example, he often spent lengthy periods of time in a trailer with an integrated "micro lab" in the immediate vicinity of a potential subject. The hours of waiting, the physical strains involved and the indefatigable search for the right moment are conveyed to the viewer by the precision of the photo, the perfect staging that is not obvious, yet clearly perceptible.
It was exactly this use of light, it was the contrasts and the sky as well as the perspectives he selected that built Heidersberger's reputation as a photographer of architecture and continue to determine his reception until today. Another specialty of his architectural photos is the two-dimensional style. Important shots, such as the photo of the Chemical Works in Huels or the Siemens Turbine Works in Wesel are dominated by a radical Heidersberger staging: the vanishing point lies within the picture itself. This "artistic slight-of-hand", this perspective so unusual from the 1950s to the 1970s, make Heidersberger's photos truly unique.
