Barbara Probst Knihy

Snap, click, the sounds of the highbrow paparazzi. Barbara Probst likes to arrange for several photographers to record the same subject at precisely the same moment, with various cameras and films, from different angles and distances. In one grouping, a vibrant image of a woman in a crosswalk is accompanied by the same moment inscribed in grainy black-and-white, from above, through a window. One suggests voyeurism, another incorporates the slipshod framing of a snapshot, and the first, on reconsideration, more closely resembles a runway shot of a model on the move. These multiple exposures are more than a meditation on the event being recorded--the diversity of images points out the ways photographers direct and classify their images in the making, and brings to light the viewer's active role in reading them. Probst, born in Munich in 1964, divides her time between Germany and New York, where she was recently included in New Photography 2006 at The Museum of Modern Art.

Elizabeth yearns to be fully seen--by Richard, the charismatic photographer who offers her a chance at the kind of embodied knowledge she's never had. A chance to be like her beloved Georgia O'Keeffe. She didn't say she wanted to be seen by the whole damn world.

Cathryn McAllister's carefully curated life is upended when she travels to Iceland to interview a charismatic glass artist who ignites a hunger for everything she's told herself she doesn't need anymore: Passion. Vulnerability. Risk. Gradually, she abandons the life-and the self-she's always relied on, until she comes face-to-face with devastating choices she never could have foreseen.

Barbara Probst's long-term photo-art project began with exposure #1 in 2000, featuring her on a Manhattan rooftop from twelve perspectives. The latest exposure #189 explores sculptural human bodies. This publication accompanies a major retrospective and includes a catalog of all 189 exposures and recent works, discussing the relevance of her themes.

Barbara Probst, born in 1964 in Munich and currently residing in New York and Munich, studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and photography under Bernd Becher at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Her artistic journey began with sculptural works, evolving into three-dimensional installations that incorporated photography, and culminating in her internationally recognized multi-part photographic series known as “exposures.” The new series of diptychs from 2015, titled "12 Moments," marks a shift towards minimalism, featuring only two perspectives of the same scene captured simultaneously. This contrasts with her earlier, more complex works, as these images evoke a dreamlike quality. Robert Hobbs, a prominent American author, curator, and art historian, contextualizes these new pieces within Probst’s artistic evolution in his extensive essay. The book, developed in close collaboration with the artist, is designed to allow viewers to engage with the diptychs in a manner that aligns with her visual concepts. Its sophisticated binding ensures it remains open easily, while the cover material enhances the book's status as an objet d’art.

Barbara Probst, born in 1964 in Munich, studied sculpture at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste and photography at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Transitioning from sculpture to photography, she has been creating series titled "Exposures" since 2000. Each series features multiple representations of the same moment, captured by various cameras from different angles and distances. This approach generates intriguing narratives reminiscent of diverse photographic genres, including portrait, still life, landscape, and studio photography. Probst highlights the artifacts of the photographic process and examines representation strategies, prompting viewers to reflect on the truthfulness and impact of photographic images. The book showcases her early works, such as Exposure #1 (2000), alongside her latest series from 2018, Exposures # 138, 139, and 140. In his essay, Frédéric Paul, curator at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, delves into the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of Probst's work. He elucidates her artistic process, encompassing concept development, design, production, installation, and exhibition, as well as the resulting effects on the audience.