In front of the lens of Gundula Schulze Eldowy

When one of the most important East German photographers, Gundula Schulze Endowy, looks through the lens of her camera, she looks contemporaneous not only in the life of her counterpart, but also seemingly in his soul. She sensitively shows the life in the GDR, how it was, unvarnished and beautiful at the same time, the life and the people in all its facets.

In 1954 Gundula Schulze Eldowy was born in Erfurt and went to the “Fachschule für Werbung und Gestaltung” in Berlin, after that, between 1979 and 1984, she studied photography at the “Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst” in Leipzig.  In the same year, she was included in the “Verband Bildender Künstler” of the GDR.

The direct and sometimes socially critical visual language of her photos aroused recognition among art lovers, as the displeasure of the state. Still today her images are significant testimonies of the German history. In the period from 1977 till 1990, impressive photo series were created, in which she portrayed above all Berlin and its residents.

Portraits constitute the large part of Schulze Eldowys’ works. They show the people in their direct living environment. The present photography was produced in 1987 and belongs to the cycle “Der große und der kleine Schritt”. In this cycle assemble photos, which were taken by Schulze Eldowa, between 1982 and 1990 in East Berlin, and in which the people and their connection to the city as well as the social crisis of the GDR in the 1980ies play a central role.

After the Wende, Schulze Eldowy undertook countless journeys, besides that she lived an extended period of time in foreign countries and worked. She received numerous awards and published next photo series also essays and reviews. Her photos were presented successfully in a lot of solo exhibition and could be found in museums around the world.

The rights to the text and pictures are with ISA Auctionata Auktionen AG.

(Translation: Valerie Holbein)