Rainer & Hanna at the Claus Gallery: The Film World of the 70s in Photographs


Date and Time
Artist
Location
About this Event
Mood
Venue Type
Rainer & Hanna: The German Film World of the 1970s in Striking Photographs
The Claus Gallery in Regensburg dedicates an exhibition to Michael Friedel's analog photography about Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Hanna Schygulla, and the creative film world of the Federal Republic in the 1970s. From July 30 to November 7, 2026, visitors will encounter iconic portraits and artistic documents that make a period visible between social upheaval, political tension, and cinematic renewal.
Photography as Contemporary History
Michael Friedel's black-and-white photographs combine documentary precision with a pronounced sensitive examination of the works. His images depict personalities not just as stars, but as people in a cultural environment marked by upheaval and contradictions. Rainer Werner Fassbinder appears as the central figure of the New German Film, while Hanna Schygulla is portrayed as a defining actress of this era.
Fassbinder, Schygulla, and the Spirit of Change
The exhibition leads into a film world that broke away from the saturated coziness of the economic miracle. Fassbinder's uncompromising working method and films such as Fear Eats the Soul, The Marriage of Maria Braun, and Effi Briest wrote German film history. Friedel's photographs capture the closeness, restlessness, and individuality of an environment where artistic production and social change were closely intertwined.
Icons, Gazes, and Analog Materiality
Alongside Fassbinder and Schygulla, other prominent personalities such as Klaus Kinski and Gunter Sachs enter the photographic space. The analog technique gives the images a special grain and physical presence. Light, shadow, posture, and guiding gaze create a concentrated exhibition atmosphere where each portrait oscillates between staging and spontaneous moment.
Michael Friedel: From Documentary Image to Artistic Photography
Michael Friedel, born in 1935 in Berlin, worked as a reporter for Stern among others and realized GEO book projects. He gained early recognition through photo series featuring personalities like Sophia Loren and Elvis Presley. His extensive archive connects artistic photography with moments of cultural and contemporary history. The exhibition thus showcases not only film history but also the development of a photographer whose gaze navigates between reportage, portrait art, and visual character study.
Art Experience at the Claus Gallery
The Claus Gallery specializes in fine art photography and creates a focused setting for aesthetic experience. In examining the works, the photographs unfold their impact through faces, gestures, and atmospheric condensing. The exhibition is suitable for all those interested in photographic art, film history, the New German Film, and the cultural tensions of the 1970s.
Conclusion: Rainer & Hanna makes the German film world of the 1970s experienceable as a vivid photographic memory. The exhibition connects art-historical classification, documentary closeness, and sensuous image impact. A visit to the Claus Gallery offers an intense aesthetic experience and brings the era around Fassbinder and Schygulla directly to life.
Official Channels of Michael Friedel:
- Instagram: no official profile found
- Facebook: no official profile found
- YouTube: no official profile found
- Website: https://www.galerieclaus.de/









