Documenting perceptions of a renewed Germany

Christina Schott, Contributor, Jakarta

After its reunification, Germany suddenly reemerged at the heart of Europe after decades of being divided between West and East, and the restored old capital of Berlin became the center once again.

For the Germans in the former West and East, it was the beginning of a long process to become the people of a single nation again, the biggest in Europe, and to reconcile the different perspectives ensuing from the still-difficult past of the two world wars of the last century.

During this period, the major political parties in Germany become more and more moderate until the former differences between conservatives and social democrats, and liberals and greens, gradually minimized.

Some might call this development open-minded and tolerant, others may label it a loss of focus and declining responsibility. Die Neue Mitte became the political slogan describing the phenomenon. Literally meaning "the new middle", it indicated every factor of change -- from the geographical situation of the reunited Germany to the new political and cultural focus of German society.

Die Neue Mitte is also the title of an exhibition by German photographer Regina Schmeken that has been touring the world since last year and has now opened at the Goethe Institute Jakarta.

From statesmen in action to refugee children from Kosovo, from haute couture fashion shows to street scenes, the series of black-and-white pictures from 1989 to 2000 presents historical and accidental moments depicting a reunified Germany.

"Regina Schmeken is a photojournalist-documentarian who is not just replaying what she saw. She also tries to make viewers feel the same as she did while shooting," photographer-cum-curator Firman Ichsan said.

"By eliminating colors in black-and-white photography, the medium easily provokes the kind of subjective sensation she wishes the viewer to experience."

Since 1977, Schmeken has been working in black-and-white pictures. In 1986, the former student of art and German literature became a photographer with the Suddeutsche Zeitung, one of the largest national dailies in Germany.

She won several international awards, including the French Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie and the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Fotografie (German society of photography) for her achievements in photojournalism.

Schmeken's work has been exhibited in many renowned museums, among them the Deutsche Historische Museum in Berlin, the Museum Ludwig and Photokina in Cologne, the Museum Folkwang in Essen, the Lenbachhaus in Munich and the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.

Following Geschlossene Gesellschaft, published in 1994 and which won the Kodak photography book prize, Die Neue Mitte is Schmeken's second photography book with an accompanying exhibition.

Her work proves that there is no clear line between photojournalism and art photography.

Still, they are taken with a unique individual angle, expressing very personal experiences, revealing the protagonists with a clear eye and a good measure of irony.

For example, her photograph of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder welcoming Bill Clinton at the 2000 G7 meeting in Cologne depicts them cheering and mincing around each other as though they are on stage; or that of the former minister of finances, Oskar Lafontaine, shows his face blurred and skeptical, as he no longer fit into Schroeder's Neue Mitte program, even though they are from the same party.

Instead the Green party, loved and hated as former activists and protesters, became moderate enough to embrace this concept -- and its former chairman Joschka Fischer, newly elected as foreign minister in 1998, nestles into his ministerial chair in a moment of reprieve after a long climb to reach this pinnacle.

Other, non-political, pictures explain the Neue Mitte concept, mainly in contrasts. The immense number of cranes dominating the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin during years immediately after 1990 symbolize the boom and euphoria of that time; on the other hand, Bavarians march in traditional clothes, pictured alongside grazing sheep.

Also in the series are intense portraits of noted writers and philosophers who made a strong impact on the "new" Germany: Gunther Grass, Heiner Miller and Peter Handke.

Even the story of Bosnia and Kosovo and German involvement therein points to a new definition of political and geographical shifts, depicted in a damaged house and children with staring eyes -- although not an obvious connection that comes to mind in the exhibition's title. The same holds true for fashion shows in Paris: Berlin developed a very lively high society with many similar events that are underrepresented here.

For lovers of black-and-white photography, this exhibition is a must; for those who want to enjoy pictures from another then in a purely esthetic way, a lot of background knowledge about Germany is required.

"In the future, we plan to have more interactive events so interested visitors are not just left with a somewhat superficial experience," said Marla Stukenberg, program director of the Goethe Institute.

-- Ibox Die Neue Mitte Feb. 26 to Mar. 13, 2004 Goethe-Institute Jakarta Jl. Samratulangi, Menteng