Art of Typology: the Photography of Bernd and Hilla Becher

During my 2023 spring break, the delayed flight from New York to San Francisco caused me to miss my connection to Hong Kong. The next available flight was two days later. This layover curtailed my limited spring break travel.

However, the situation was not all bad. I texted my friend Wayne, who was studying in UC Berkeley. He drove to San Francisco airport so quickly that I hadn't even finished rescheduling my missed flight by the time he arrived to pick me up.
He also booked a nice hotel in downtown San Francisco.

I was grateful for my friend Wayne's generosity, and I couldn't have been more thankful for his support during that situation.

Photography of Bernd and Hilla Becher at SFMOMA

During these two days, Wayne showed me around San Francisco. We went to the jazz bar and "drank" oysters beside the San Francisco Bay. Before I left San Francisco, we decided to visit MOMA. (Both of us love art. One of the reasons is that loving art makes young boys feel themselves more attractive).

I directly went to the film photography exhibition section since I took a film photography class that semester. At first glance, I was impressed by the photography of Bernd and Hilla Becher.

Reconstruction of 1950s and 1960s

Bernd and Hilla Becher are a husband-and-wife photography duo, that emerged their photography from a post-war context in the 1950s and 1960s. The devastation of World War II required reconstruction, and significant industrial development rapidly replaced traditional industrial buildings. Bernd and Hilla Becher aimed to document the vanishing traditional architecture of industry buildings.

The art of typologies

Looking around the exhibition, I saw a pattern: a pattern of typologies. The Bechers photographed different angles of the same buildings, such as water towers and gas tanks, and arranged them in grids. Seeing them side by side allows us to notice both the similarities and subtle differences in patterns.

The beauty of typologies lies in their balance of simplicity and complexity.
With the grouped, grid layout, the photographs lead us to find order within the differences. If we only look at a single photo, it is hard to imagine the other side of the building and to imagine the real beauty of the structure's geometry. But when we view the series as typologies, we see the order and rhythm of the architecture.

Becher's film photography

Upon closer observation, the intricate features of industrial structures are captured with exceptional sharpness and detail using a large-format film camera. The high resolution reveals even the smallest architectural elements with clarity.

The monochrome palette of the images conveys a range of complex sentiments:

Timelessness and Endurance: The photography captures the finest architectural details with striking precision, creating a sense of timelessness. The monochrome tones strip away any specific markers of an era, allowing these structures to exist in a suspended state, seemingly untouched by time.

Objectivity and Neutrality: The black-and-white tones also enhance the documentary style influenced by the "New Objectivity" movement, emphasizing the form, design, and structure of the buildings. This neutrality removes any emotional bias, inviting us to engage with the architecture in its purest form, free from distractions.

Decay and Abandonment: Despite their objective approach, the monochrome imagery also conveys a sense of decay and abandonment, highlighting the aging and deteriorating elements of these sites. The stark tones give the scenes a cold, desolate feel, enhancing the mood of isolation and the passage of time.

When I looked at Bernd and Hilla Becher's photos, I couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions. These aren't just old buildings they're showing us - they're like time capsules, telling stories of strength, memories, and what we've lost along the way. It's pretty amazing how they captured this push-and-pull between moving forward and holding onto the past. Their photography made me pause and think about how our world is always changing, but somehow, bits and pieces of history stick around, refusing to be forgotten. I finally found calmness in my travel chaos and found the fine art in this unexpected layover.

Resources:

Bernd & Hilla Becher - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Exhibition previously on view at The Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Becher, Bernd and Hilla

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

SFMOMA

Blumberg, Naomi. "Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bernd-Becher-and-Hilla-Becher. Accessed 7 October 2024.