The Walther Collection is pleased to present Who We Are: Portraits and Vernacular Photography, opening at our Museum Campus in Neu-Ulm, Germany on June 9, 2024. Who We Are is the first part in a three-year exhibition survey dedicated to vernacular photography, the broad category of everyday images that shape and define our lives and that one might see on a passport, in an old family photo album, in a magazine, or even online. This exhibition aims to examine vernacular photography with the same critical attention generally devoted to contemporary fine-art photography, and to consider these familiar but often overlooked photographic practices within specific social and cultural histories.
The exhibition is divided into five thematic sections—“Against Portraiture,” “Decolonized: Changing Visions of African Identity,” “Ways of Seeing Gender Identity,” “Photo Albums: Archiving Everyday Life,” and “The Photographic Object.” These installations are displayed in various buildings throughout The Walther Collection's Museum Campus. While not comprehensive, these focused case studies offer new ways of seeing familiar images and original perspectives on everyday visual culture.
Curated by Brian Wallis, Daniela Yvonne Baumann, and Melek Baylas
