Die Schüler
hand-bound book, 124 pages
2024
A compilation of student portraits from a Berlin art school's photography program, spanning over three decades. Used by faculty to identify students for attendance, the assembled portraits reveal an unintended narrative: the evolution of photographic technique and reproduction technology, as well as a change of student demographics, personal style, and fashion.
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The archive starts with the year 1985, at which point students were apparently allowed to submit their own photographs, resulting in a diverse array of small original prints fixed to a paper list with adhesive —standardized passport photos, solemn self-portraits, and candid shots likely taken by peers. Beautifully printed black-and-white handprints sat opposite standard lab C-prints.
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Beginning in the late 1980s, the portraits seem more uniform, presumably taken in school by the same photographer. With photocopiers becoming more prevalent, the diversity in aesthetic and quality of earlier years gave way to uniform copies, and the fidelity of darkroom prints was lost in favor of practicality. Low-resolution copies produced chunky, high-contrast images consisting solely of black toner and negative space. Over time, the images gradually regained fidelity as copying technology improved. Color copies would go on to replace the monochromatic portraits, until finally, early low-resolution digital photographs marked the final major technical transition.