Now reissued in an attractively priced, compact edition, this classic and authoritative survey is the first detailed account of a seminal era in photographic history. Inspired and guided by Bernd and Hiller Becher, themselves pioneers in the area of documentary photography, the artists of Germany's Dusseldorf School not only pushed the boundaries of their teachers' practice, but also ushered in three generations of technical and compositional achievement that is rivalled in importance only by the arrival of color photography. This book introduces readers to the historic, cultural, and scientific environments in which the Bechers' practice thrived. It explores the teaching philosophies with which they encouraged their students, and considers the qualities that highlight the Dusseldorf School: intricate detail, large scale, painterly distance combined with an immersive quality. The plate section, organized by artist, features 160 beautifully reproduced images by Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruff, Candida Hoefer, Axel Hutte, Laurenz Berges, Elger Esser, Simone Nieweg, Joerg Sasse, and Petra Wunderlich.

The photographs, videos, installations, sculptures, and new VR works by Louisa Clement (*1987) deal with phenomena related to a sense of disturbance in times of political and social inse- curity. Clement's investigations prove to be as seductive as they are cryptic: What is a human being in a digital age in which the body's integrity is increasingly questioned through vehement medical and technological interventions? In an almost surreal manner, Clement's detailed photographs conjure up a new image of the body that also represents the ambivalent vision of a "new human being." With the help of her photographs, taken with smartphone cameras, she examines not only the medium's ability to reproduce images, but also the reality of the technologically modifi ed human. This publication is a companion to Louisa Clem- ent's fi rst museum exhibition.