A photography exhibition featuring three local newspaper photographers has shattered attendance records at the Hammer Artists' Association (hkb) atelier in Hamm, Germany. The exhibition "City Time Stories" showcased 120 photographs documenting 30 years of the city's history, drawing hundreds of visitors to its opening on Saturday afternoon, August 16th.
"I've experienced many exhibition openings here at our hkb atelier, but we've never had so many visitors," said Ina Jenzelewski, the new chairwoman of the Hammer Artists' Association, expressing her amazement at the massive crowd that gathered at the atelier near Maxipark. The overwhelming turnout surprised even the organizers, as several hundred people came to witness the opening of the photo exhibition by three WA newspaper photographers: Andreas Rother, Reiner Mroß, and Robert Szkudlarek.
Chief Editor Christian Gerstenberger of WA delivered a humorous introduction, joking about the artistic aspirations of his photographers. "When photographers start making art, it always makes me nervous," Gerstenberger said with a smile. "When they start holding the camera at an angle for a picture, I get calls from readers the next day asking whether our photographers can't even hold a camera straight. I've been told that Andreas Rother once had a diagonal phase," the editor-in-chief added.
Robert Szkudlarek, described as the most artistic of the three WA photographers who has already had several exhibitions in Hamm, was credited with inspiring his colleagues with the idea of a joint exhibition. Gerstenberger praised the result as "absolutely worth seeing," a sentiment echoed by visitors throughout the afternoon. The exhibition's appeal stemmed not from being a traditional art show, but rather a display of 120 press photographs from the past 30 years capturing Hamm's history.
The photographs sparked numerous conversations and nostalgic memories among visitors, exactly as the photographers had hoped. "Do you remember" were undoubtedly the most frequently spoken words of the afternoon, as people gathered around images that brought back personal and collective memories of their city's past three decades.
One photograph generated particularly intense discussion: an image of a woman in a red bikini sitting in an excavator bucket, standing next to then-Mayor Thomas Hunsteger-Petermann. "That wasn't my idea," Hunsteger-Petermann clarified, emphasizing that he would not approve such a photo today. Dr. Alexander Tillmann, who was then head of corporate communications at the municipal utilities, recalled that the image was taken during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Maximare aquatic center. Jens Vatheuer, one of the two managing directors of Maximare at the time, wanted a sensational effect for the press photo and "conjured the lady out of his hat," according to Tillmann. "She came in a bathrobe, but when she dropped it, everyone's facial expressions went awry."
Another historical photograph showed the interior of the Bull Hall filled with cattle, which Tillmann, who later became managing director of the Central Halls, explained was built as a central breeding cattle auction hall. Previously, cattle had been auctioned on the parade ground. The image served as a reminder of how the city's commercial infrastructure had evolved over the decades.
Former Mayor Ulrike Wäsche, who served from 2004 to 2010, appeared in one photograph lying down and aiming with a rifle. "I always had to fire the honorary shot at shooting festivals and I enjoyed doing it," Wäsche recounted. Apparently, she was quite accurate, frequently hitting insignia and passing them on to delighted children as souvenirs.
The exhibition opening attracted political figures from different eras, including current Mayor Marc Herter alongside his predecessors Sabine Zech and Thomas Hunsteger-Petermann, demonstrating the broad appeal and historical significance of the photographic collection.
Werner Reumke, longtime chairman of the Martin Luther District Support Association, was featured in a photograph surrounded by cinema organs. The association had received 23 organs as a gift from a cinema organ collector and established their own organ museum. "That was always the highlight during tours of the district," Reumke reminisced.
These four images represented just a fraction of the 120 photographs on display. The exhibition features prominent politicians like Angela Merkel and Joschka Fischer, sports stars such as Erik Zabel and Horst Hrubesch in action in Hamm, as well as the priest of the Hindu temple, Hamm's fist and water ball players, and countless other moments from the city's history that evoked memories among both those photographed and other viewers.
Robert Szkudlarek has previously held several exhibitions in Hamm, including the show "tRaum der WeisSheit" featuring paper art in collaboration with Grzyna Maniecka and Rüdiger Brand at the City Hall Gallery. The current exhibition is open to the public free of charge on Saturdays from 2 to 5 PM and Sundays from 11 AM to 5 PM. The finissage will take place on Sunday, September 14th, beginning at 3 PM.
