Camera Work: A Photographic Quarterly (1904 (Heft 5))

THE JUBILEE EXHIBITION AT THE
HAMBURG ART GALLERIES.
[Herr Ernst Juhl, who has kindly sent us this review of the Hamburg
Exhibition, is the President of the “ Gesellschaft zur Förderung der
Amateur Photographie," and the man who , though not himself a pho-
tographer, has done more for the advancement of pictorial photography
in Germany than any other individual. His interest, appreciation,
encouragement, and unceasing labors have been the stimulus that have
made possible the important International Annual Exhibitions in
Hamburg. While editor of the “Photographische Rundschau” he
directed the influence of this magazine to the encouragement of the best
interests of pictorial photography.—Editors.]
¶ THE LAYMAN seldom realizes the great difficulty of arranging an
exhibition consisting solely of masterpieces; only the committee of selection
can know how hard it is to exclude the mediocre. Beginners and the less gifted
are generally convinced of the excellence of their own work, and its rejection
often incurs their bitterest enmity. Men, inclined to please and be pleased,
do not make desirable jurors, and yet the making of enemies must be
avoided as much as possible, because every photographic exhibition finds
itself dependent on many elements, including such as are not in sympathy
with the new movement. The Hamburg Society has succeeded for ten
years in arranging a high-class annual exhibition, without allowing itself to
be influenced by personal interests or in making harmful concessions. To
exclude inferior work is in itself a most difficult task, and the bringing to-
gether of the best work of all countries is only possible when the efforts of
a society are endorsed, as is the case of Hamburg, by an institution as influ-
ential as the Kunsthalle, and are patronized by some administrative body like
the Hamburg Senate. The hundred exhibitors invited represented the fore-
most artistic photographers of the world, and there were but few mediocrities
among the five hundred prints on its walls. Germany, Austria, the United
States, England, France, and Belgium were well represented; Russia and
Denmark each by a single exhibitor. In those countries not exhibiting there
is a lack of artistic photographers, largely due to the want of stimulating
exhibitions, and hence there was nothing of theirs that could be contributed.
¶ The Hamburg group of the " Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Amateur
Photographie” was represented by twenty exhibitors, the most prominent
being Dr. Arning, Dachwitz, the Hofmeisters, Dr. Kirstein, H. W. Müller,
and Troch. All these exhibited principally vari-colored gum prints of large
dimensions. The work of the Hofmeisters will be reproduced and criticized
in a future issue of Camera Work. The endeavor of the Hamburg artists to
create large wall-pictures,strong in color and light in tone, capable of producing
a true outdoor effect when hung in interiors and viewed at a distance. The
work of each is entirely individual. The most powerful colorist is Dachwitz;
the best sunlight effects are produced by Troch; Müller has the greatest
facility in the selection of pleasant motives; but the Hofmeisters remain this
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