Heinz Hajek-Halke

Heinz Hajek-Halke
Born	1 December 1898 Berlin, Germany
Died	11 May 1983 Berlin, Germany
Known for	Photography
Movement	Surrealism
Awards	Culture Award from the German Society for Photography (1965)

Heinz Hajek-Halke (1 December 1898 – 11 May 1983) was a German experimental photographer and educator. He was an early member of the Fotoform group.

Early life

Hajek-Halke was born in Berlin, Germany, on 1 December 1898, the son of Paul Halke.[1][2][3] He spent twelve years in Argentina while growing up and then moved back to Germany, studying graphics in Berlin in 1915.[1][4] He was a soldier during World War I before returning to his artistic studies.[1] He specialised in a number of areas, including engraving, illustrations, film posters and photo editing before becoming a photographer in 1924.[1][4]

Career

As a photographer, he began to focus on experimental work, including "light montages, double exposures, photo collages and photo montages". He would use multiple negatives for a single print, a technique called "combi-photography".[1] He worked with the fashion photographer Yva.[4] Hajek-Halke worked as a photo editor, press photographer, and commercial artist, concentrating almost from the start on montage techniques. In the 1930s with the rise of the Nazis he lived quietly, moving to Lake Constance after he refused to fake documentaries for the Nazi Party. He photographed small animal life-forms, including insects. In 1937, he travelled to Brazil, where he produced a documentary about a snake farm. He returned to Germany in 1939.[1][5]

During World War II, Hajek-Halke was conscripted by the German army and worked as a photographer for Dornier, an aircraft company in Friedrichshafen. After the war he spent a brief time as a French prisoner of war. He then began selling snake venom from his own snake farm to the pharmaceutical industry.[1][5] In 1949, Hajek-Halke became a member of the German group Fotoform after meeting Otto Steinert. His abstractions, photomontages and luminograms were included in the first of two "subjektive fotografie" exhibitions.[1][4]

He was appointed as a lecturer in photography and graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin in 1955.[1][4] Along with Felix H. Man, he won the 1965 Culture Award from the German Society for Photography. During his lifetime he published two books, Experimentelle Fotografie and Lichtgrafik.

Death and legacy

He died in Berlin on 11 May 1983.[1] He left his estate to the photographer Michael Ruetz, who donated it to the Academy of Arts, Berlin, in 2010.[6]

References

1. "Heinz Hajek-Halke". Photography. Art Directory. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
2. "Heinz Hajek-Halke". Coeval. Coeval Magazine. 3 February 2016. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
3. Warren, Lynne (2005). Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography, 3-Volume Set. Routledge. p. 658. ISBN 978-1-135-20536-2. Archived from the original on 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
4. Rüter, Ulrich (2005), Nicholson, Angela (ed.), "Hajek-Halke, Heinz", The Oxford Companion to the Photograph, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780198662716.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-866271-6, archived from the original on 2024-07-25, retrieved 2023-03-16
5. Hajek-Halke, Heinz (2013). "Heinz Hajek-Halke | ND Magazine". ndmagazine.net. Archived from the original on 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
6. Walde, Gabriela (27 November 2010). "Akademie der Künste erhält Hajek-Halkes Fotos". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.