Curriculum Vitae
Born 1949 in Bonn/Germany. Trained by Karl-Hugo Schmoelz and Walde Huth in Cologne as a photographer with specialization in advertising, architectural, and industrial photography, worked in these fields for several years to finance further studies. Studied art history, communication research, and German literature in Munich and Bonn. PhD on the history of architectural photography in Germany 1900-1975, 1983.
Worked as head of a building preservation campaign concerned with 19th century interiors, 1978/79. Freelance writer, exhibition maker, and artist between 1975 and 1990. Member of the Artist Placement Group, London from 1978 to 1984. Since then freelance author, photographer, curator, consultant.
1985/2004 Professor of Photography and (since 1993) Electronic Image Media at the Niederrhein University of Applied Science in Krefeld. 1994/95 Professor of Art History in charge of Hans Belting, since 1995 Associate Professor of Theories in Design in the Department of Art History and Media Theory at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe. Short term lecturerership at the Academy of Arts in Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 2000; awarded an Honorary Diploma by this institution. 2002 Guest professor in Theories of Design at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe. 2004-17 seat in Design history and Design theory at the Saar University of Fine Arts, Saarbruecken, 2013-17 Pro-rector for Academic Affairs. Since 2018, lecturer at the University of Bonn.
Lives in Bonn.
Publications in English language (selection)
The library within the library. Photographic books on architecture or architecture books with photographs, in: Moritz Neumueller (ed.), Talking about photobooks, Amsterdam 2024, pp.095-102.
Liquid Spaces. Media Spaces in the Work of Gudrun Kemsa, in: Gudrun Kemsa, Floating Spaces, Dortmund 2024, pp.87-89.
Meeting Lucia Moholy: A Personal Reconstruction, in: Jordan Troeller (ed.): Exh.cat. Lucia Moholy: Exposures, Praha Berlin 2024, pp.250-262.
Interview with Lucia Moholy (1982), in: ibid. pp.262-277.
Pretium ego sum. ChrisW and his Presence in Artificial Intelligence, in: Chris Wickenden, exh.cat. Preti & Me, Identity & Transformation, Bonn 2024, p.10.
Through the Eyes of Ahmet Ertug, A Journey in Light and Stone, Istanbul : self published 2024, essay and all descriptive texts.
Walde Huth, Material and Fashion, Photography Collection / Museum Ludwig Vol.5, edited by Miriam Szwast, Cologne 2023.
Finding Traces Between the Times, in: Christian Herrmann, Borderlands. Jewish Traces in the East of Europe, Berlin 2023, pp.17-20.
900m. Peter Keetman: Some Personal Insights, in: Maren Klinge (ed.), exh.cat. Keetman, Gerd Sander Collection Part 1, Cologne 2023, pp.4-11.
Rolf Sachsse (ed.), Joerg Winde, farbraeume color spaces, Dortmund : Verlag Kettler 2023.
From Maxwell to Mercury: The Cultural History of Gabriel Lippmann’s Colour Photography, in: Hanin Hanouch (ed.), Gabriel Lippmann’s Colour Photography: Science, Media, Museums, Amsterdam 2022, pp.199-210.
Why in Color? Sergej Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii and His Travels 1908-1918, in: PhotoResearcher 33.2022.37.100-113.
Thomas Kellner. Modern Mannerism, in: Thomas Kellner, Tango Metropolis, Berlin 2021, pp.4-16.
Epilogue. Passion for Presentation, in: Guenther Raupp, Ferrari 75, 1947-2022, Bielefeld 2021, pp.305-309.
Rolf Sachsse, Anna Atkins Blue Prints, concept by Marion Blomeyer, Munich : Hirmer 2021.
Rolf Sachsse (ed.), Cornelia Mittendorfer, Wissen . sapere, Wien : Verlag für moderne Kunst 2021.
Order and Disorder, Place and Displacement, in: Alexandra Hinz-Wladyka, Stefan Zajonz (ed.), Exh.cat. Time[Dis]Placement2, Fotografie & Neue Medien, Troisdorf 2021, pp.7-9.
Dark Sky, White Costumes: The Janus State of Modern Photography in Germany 1933-45, in: Christopher Webster (ed.): Photography in the Thrid Reich. Art, Physiognomy and Propaganda, Cambridge : Open Book Publsihers 2021, pp.31-57.
The Great Media War. Fine Arts, Press, and Private Photography, Film, and Other Media as Components of World War I, in: Iro Katsaridou, Ioannis Motsianos (ed.), The Allied Army of the Orient in Thessaloniki, 1915-1918:
the city and its representations, Thessaloniki 2020, pp.243-261.
War Images and Image Wars. An Account of the Forms and Functions of Official and Private Photography During the German Occupation of Greece, in: Annie Kontogiorgio, Iro Katsaridou, Ioannis Motsianos (ed.), The Occupier’s Gaze. Athens in the Photographs of the German Soldiers 1941-1944, Athens 2020, pp.23-39.
Process: Building Photographs by HGEsch, in: Euroboden Architekturkultur (ed.), exh.cat. Process Architecture. A Photographic Research into Global Building Sites, An Exhibition by Euroboden Architekturkultur & HGEsch, Berlin 2020, unpag.
Rolf Sachsse (ed.), Jörg Winde, Bałuty, Eindhoven : lecturis 2020.
The Crust of Earth and Culture. Erol Akyavas and Photography, in: Ahmet Ertug (ed.), Form and Texture. Erol Akyavas. Photographs, Istanbul : Ahmet Ertug Fine Art Editions 2020, pp.7-13.
Between Hallway and Gate, in: Richard Reisen, Half-Way House Schiessstrasse, Eindhoven 2020, pp.63-80.
Rolf Sachsse (ed.), Amin El Dib, On the fragility of being, Berlin : Wasmuth & Zohlen 2019.
The Architectural Photographer, in: HG Esch, References, Hennef 2019, unpag.
From Proof to Artwork. Polaroid as study and final product in the work of HGEsch, in: Mirko Mayer, Richard Reisen (Hg.), HGEsch Polaroids, Eindhoven : Lecturis 2019, unpag.
Chemical images. The Ruhrchemie in photographic records, in: Rainer Schlautmann (ed.), Exh.cat. Metabolic Processes. Ruhrchemie in photography, Dortmund 2018, pp.76-87.
Laurent Muschel Photographs the Salons de Coiffure of the Tropical World, in: Laurent Muschel, tropical hairs salons, Eindhoven : lecturis 2018, unpag.
Fielded in Imagery. Three positions in extended viewing of the photographic image, in: Esther Hagenmaier, Karen Irmer, Thomas Witzke (ed.), Exh.cat. Visual Field, Kaunas : Photographic Union, pp.6-31.
The Sand As A Sculptor, HGEsch photographs Al Madam, in: exh.cat. HGEsch, Al Madam, Cologne : mirko mayer galerie 2018, unpag.
Building and Picture, Building and Presenting, in: HG Esch, HENN (ed.), Merck Innovation Center, Architektur HENN, Fotografie HGEsch, Tübingen Berlin : Ernst Wasmuth Verlag 2018, unpag. (book conception by RS)
Architectural Photography: A Medium as a Form of Useful Interpretation, in: Moritz Neumüller (ed.), The Routledge Companion to Photography and Visual Culture, New York London2018, pp.177-188.
There Appeared to Be Chaos: Josef Sudek’s Work in the Context of Avantgarde-Architectural Photography in the 1920s and 1930s, in: Hana Buddeus, Katarína Masterova, Vojtech Lahova (eds.), Instant Presence. Representing Art in Photography, In Honor of Josef Sudek (1896-1976), Prague 2017, pp.263-278.
In memoriam Tomas Riehle, in: Peter Cachola Schmal, Yorck Förster, Christina Gräwe (ed.), German Architecture Annual 2018, Berlin 2018, pp.246-247.
Ahmet Ertug: Non plus ultra, in: Marin Ivanovic, Jelena Tamindzija (ed.), Exh.cat. Ahmet Ertug Vanishing Point, Dubrovnik 2017, pp.14-24.
Rolf Sachsse (ed.), John Williams, Photographer and Historian, Eindhoven : lecturis 2017.
Walking Sitting Standing. Yvon Lambert’s Photographic Record of Life on the Kirchberg, in: Fondation Kirchberg (ed.), Yvon Lambert Kirchberg, Luxembourg 2017, Vol.1, pp.5-10.
RS (ed.), Cornelia Mittendörfer, Green Line. Evocative of an Archeology of Desperation and Desire, Wien Nürnberg : Verlag für moderne Kunst 2017.
The Integration of Art and Design, Creativity and Professionalization, in: Nicole Pfeffermann, Julie Gould (eds.), Strategy and Communication for Innovation. Integrative Perspectives on Innovation in the Digital Economy, Third Edition, Heidelberg Cham 2017, pp.415-424.
Private and Official German Photography during the Occupation of Greece. A Preliminary Account, in: Iro Katsaridou, Ioannis Motsianos (ed.), Representations of the Nazi Occupation: photography, history, memory, Thessaloniki 2017, pp.40-61.
100 Views of The Hypovereinsbank Tower in Munich, in: HG Esch, 100 Views of the HVB-Tower in Munich, Dortmund 2016, unpag.
Marie Goslich – A Socially Committed Woman in the Imperial Age, Armed with a Typewriter and a Camera, in: Krystyna Kauffmann (ed.), Marie Goslich, Dortmund 2016, pp.319-340.
The Series Hochstand by Paul Mayer, in: Paul Mayer, Hochstand, Bielefeld 2016, pp.104-107.
Unsorted Memories of Edith Weyde, in: Klaus Urbons, Jan Ehlen (ed.), Edith Weyde, Muelheim/Ruhr 2016, pp.149-156.
11 contributions to: Guenther Raupp, The Pininfarina Book, Kempen 2015.
Photography, Storage and Absence, in: Wolfgang Meighoerner (ed.), Sinje Dillenkofer, Architecture of the Archive, Innsbruck 2015, pp.68-71.
Jorge Ribalta (Moderation), Rosa Casanova, Duncan Forbes, Patricia Hayes, Sarah James, Fred Lonidier, Silvia Pérez Fernández, Martha Rosler, RS, Siona Wilson, Documentary Struggles in the „Long 1970s“, in: Jorge Ribalta (ed.), Not Yet. On the Reinvention of Documentary and the Critique of Modernism, Madrid 2015, pp.46-103.
Microfilm Services and their Application to Scholarly Study, Scientific Research, Education and Re-Education in the Post-War Period, A Draft Proposal by Lucia Moholy to the UNESCO Preparatory Commission 1945, and its prehistory in modern art, in: Constanza Caraffa, Tiziana Serena (ed.), Photo Archives and the Idea of Nation, Berlin Munich Boston 2015, pp.167-178.
Martin Streit Illuminated, in: Martin Streit Lichtkammer [Light Chamber], Heidelberg 2014, pp.79-80.
Light on Light. Autobiographies by Photographers, in: PhotoResearcher No.22, 2014, pp.94-100.
Excerpts of a letter by John Latham to Rolf Sachsse suggesting corrections to an article written for the Museum of Modern Art Oxford catalogue ‚Art After Physics‘, London, 31 July 1991 [annotated by Sachsse], in: NOIT – 1, JL: Time-Based Portraits, London 2013, pp. 16-18.
Réflexions sur le contexte historique de réalisation des photographies des ghettos / Some Short Accounts on the Photographic History of the Ghetto Photographs, in: Jacques Fredj (ed.), Exh.cat. Regards sur les ghettos / Scenes from the Ghetto, Paris : Éditions du Mémorial de la Shoah, pp.29-30 / 146-147.
Photographic Exhibitions / The Photographer, in: Günther Raupp, The Ferrari Book, Kempen 2013, pp.286-291 / 292 – 297.
Traditional Sculpture in Modern Media: Visiting Erich Retzlaff and Correlating him to Straight Photography – a very personal account, in: Christopher Webster van Tonder (ed.), Exh.cat. Erich Retzlaff Volksfotograf, Aberyswyth 2013, pp.15-16.
Representations of Industrial Cities in Photo Books and Promotional Films of the 1950s and 1960s, in: Clemens Zimmermann (ed.), Industrial Cities. History and Future, Frankfurt New York 2013, pp.325-344.
Ahmet Ertug. Photographing Libraries and Opera Houses, in: Arkas Sanat Merkezi (ed.), Ahmet Ertug, Echoes of Silence. A Photographic Exhibition of Libraries and Opera Houses, Izmir 2012, pp.12-15.
The Value of the New Vision: Rolf Sachsse on the history of how Bauhaus photography became art, in: The Bauhaus Dessau Foundation’s magazine 2.2012.4.15-23.
Night and Day in Computer Games and Architectural Photography, in: The European Month of Photography (ed.), Exh.cat. distURBANces. Can Fiction Beat Reality?, Vienna 2012, pp.82-85.
Artists‘ Books on Architecture. A Fast Growing and Endangered Species, in: PhotoResearcher. ed. by the European Society for the History of Photography No.18/2012, pp.59-68.
Andreas Winkler, Radiating History (Strahlende Vergangenheit), Nuclear Power Plants in Germany, Heidelberg : Kehrer 2012.
Sonja Gangl, Captured / Covered, 2 Vol., Berlin : Revolver 2012.
A Short History of Architectural Model Photography, in: Oliver Elser, Peter Cachola Schmal (ed.), The Architectural Model. Tool Fetish Small Utopia, Zurich : Scheidegger & Spiess 2012, pp.23-28.
Glassworks on Glass Plate, Albert Renger-Patzsch Photographs for Schott in Jena, Mainz and Grünenplan, in: Schott AG (ed.), Albert Renger-Patzsch Industrial Photographs for SCHOTT, Weimar : VDG 2011, pp.21-34.
ZKM (ed.), Sound Art @ Het Apollohuis, Sample of concert recordings 1980-1995, Wergo Music, Mainz 2011 (double CD with 70 page booklet).
Old medium photo poster – new visions, in: 100 best posters e.V. (ed.), 100 best posters ’10, Germany Austria Switzerland, Mainz 2011, pp.170-191.
Spheres on Screens, Domes as photographed by Ahmet Ertuǧ, in: Ahmet Ertuǧ, Domes. A Journey Through European Architectural History, Istanbul 2011, pp.33-36.
Precise Colour Images, in: Borusan Foundation (ed.), Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, Vol.1, Istanbul 2011, pp.18-21.
Grand Opera Through the Grand Lens, The Photography of Ahmet Ertuǧ, in: Ahmet Ertuǧ, Palaces of Music, Opera Houses in Europe, Istanbul 2010, text supplement, pp.52-65.
Ulay, namen uiterlijkheden personenruil, Photograph, Woman, Video, The Development of a Work, in: Christoph Blase, Peter Weibel (ed.), 40yearsofvideoart.de Part 2, Ostfildern 2010, pp.491-492.
Natura Medians. Wild Waters in Melanie Wioras Work, in: Isabella Kreim (ed.), Exh.cat. natura. Melanie Wiora, Ingolstadt 2010, unpag.
N:90° W: 180°. The Coordinates of Photography Are Not of this World, in: Elisabeth Fiedler, Peter Weibel (ed.), Michael Schuster, For Your Information, Cologne 2010, pp. 165-167.
Typo Light Images. On the Post-Photographic Work of Michael Schuster, in: ibid. pp.289-325.
An Allegorical Magic Of Things And Consummate Technique. The Photographer Walter Peterhans, in: Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, Klassik Stiftung Weimar (ed.), Bauhaus Conceptual Model, Ostfildern 2009, pp.269-272.
Visual Memory As Mental Inscription. On the Formation of Contexts, in: Johan Swinnen, Luc Deneulin (ed.), The Weight of Photography, Brussels 2010, pp.549-556.
THE END. A Concept in the Oeuvre of Sonja Gangl, in: Exh.cat. Sonja Gangl The End, A Work In Progress Since 1991, Vienna 2009, pp.15-18.
Marginal Notes On the Photographic Historiography Of The 1970s. The Reception Of Photography As Technique, Medium, And Art, in: Anna Auer, Uwe Schoegl (ed.), Jubilee 30 Years ESHPh, Congress of Photography in Vienna, Salzburg 2008, pp.470-475.
Art From Images, Michael Ruetz, Essayist, in: Michael Ruetz, Spring of Discontent, 1964-1974, Goettingen : Steidlville 2008, pp.169-183.
Seeing At Sea, in: Herbert Boettcher Sea Motion, Mannheim 2008, unpag.
Toll And Transition, in: Josef Schulz Transition, Cologne 2007, pp.03-08.
Arts and the Cities / Japan and Europe, Reports From the Panelists, in Shin-Ichi Sakai, W Cube Project (ed.), Puddles, Artist-Initiative Links 2003, A Montage Towards the Future, On the History and Its Creativity In Relation With the 400th Anniversary of the Edo Shogunate, Toky 2007, pp.104-109.
The Bauhaus Logo, in: Walter Prigge (ed.), Icon of Modernism, The Bauhaus Building Dessau, Edition Bauhaus 24, Berlin 2006, pp.108-112.
Irena Paskali, An Artist Working In Many Media, in: Exh.cat. Irena Paskali, Urban Landscape, Skopje 2006, unpag.
5 entries to: Lynne Warren (ed.), Encyclopedia of 20th century photography, New York 2006.
17 entries to: The Oxford Companion to the Photograph, ed. by Robin Lenman, Oxford 2005.
Laus alit artes, in: Fabienne Bernardini, Enrico Lunghi (ed.) Exh.cat. Re:Location 1-7, Shake Society, Luxembourg : Casino Forum d’Art Contemporaine, 2004, Vol.2, pp.110-114.
Time Image Value or: How I Learned To Love Forgetting, in: Joerg Bostroem, Gottfried Jaeger (ed.), Can Photography Capture Our Time In Images?, Bielefeld 2004, pp.124-126.
Terminated: An Artist’s Place(ment). The History of Het Apollohuis As A Lesson In Art And Society, in: Hélène and Paul Panhuysen (ed.), Het Apollohuis 1995-2001, Eindhoven 2004, pp.90-92.
The Photogram As Sculptural Reprojection, in: Exh.cat. Hans Kupelwieser, Postmedial Sculptures, Graz Karlsruhe Ostfildern-Ruit 2004, pp.014-030.
modern greetings, Photographed architecture on picture postcards 1919-1939, edited by Kirsten Baumann and Rolf Sachsse, collected, conceived and selected by Bernd Dicke, Stuttgart : Arnoldsche Art Publishers 2004.
Instrument Leica. Defining a More Than Functional Product, in: Volker Albus, Achim Heine (ed.), Views of Brand Culture: Leica, Berlin : nicolai 2003, pp.128-144.
Love and the Reproduction. A Marginal Note on Photography in the Work of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, in: Peter Weibel (ed.), Phantom of Desire, Visions of Masochism, Vol.1, Essays and Texts, Graz Munich : belleville 2003, pp.215-216.
Turning Gliding Forming Seeing, Gudrun Kemsa and the Game of Movement in Space, in: Rolf Sachsse (ed.), Gudrun Kemsa Bewegte Bilder, Cologne : Schaden 2003.
Lightshaft and Adjustable Tripod, Marginalia on Peter Keetman’s Manner of Working During His Visit to the Volkswagen Factory in 1953, in: Exh.cat. Peter Keetman Volkswagenwerk 1953, Wolfsburg Bielefeld 2003, pp.159-160.
28 entries to: John Hannavy (ed.), Encyclopedia of 19th century photography, Washington DC London 2002.
Terminated: An Artist’s Place(ment). The History of Het Apollohuis as a Lesson in Art and Society, in: Het Apollohuis 1995-2001, Eindhoven 2002, pp.90-92.
EAST. CITY SCAPE EAST. STADT LAND OST. Archiv der Wirklichkeit – Ein Projekt der VNG, Stuttgart : Hatje Cantz Verlag 2001.
Made in Germany as Image in Photography and Design, in: Christoph Lorey, John L. Plews (ed.), Why German Matters in Popular Culture, Journal of Popular Culture Vol. 34, 2000, No.3 (Winter 2000), pp. 43-58.
Material Aesthetics and Spatial Continuum, in: H.M.Nelte (ed.), Interior Design in Germany, Wiesbaden 2000, pp.5-6.
Joachim Schmid’s Archiv, in: History of Photography 24.2000.3.255-261. Entry and View, in: Exh.cat. City-Index, Dresden 2000, pp.38-49.
Baroque Cities under the American Night in Space, in: 45th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Festival Catalogue 1999, pp.83-86.
Images on Buildings, in: Exh.cat. Reconstructing Space : Architecture in Recent German Photography, AA London, Cambrigde MA : MIT Press, 1999, pp.28-31.
On Talking and Photographing, in: exh.cat. Inge Morath, The Life of a Photographer, Vienna Munich 1999, pp.17-26.
On Thinking in Pictures, An Essay on Design Images and Image Design, in: form diskurs, Journal of Design and Design Theory 4.1999.7.4-9.
„Graphic Thinking Bears the Danger of Manipulation“, Interview with Arthur P.Schmidt, in: form diskurs 4.1999.7.44-49.
Klaus Honnef, Rolf Sachsse, Karin Thomas (ed.), German photography 1870-1970, The Power of a Medium, New Haven CT : Yale University Press 1997.
The Quest for Quality in Art and Media, in: ZKM (ed.), Media Art Perspectives, Stuttgart : edition Cantz, 1996, pp.166-173.
From 0 – 1 to 0 + 1. The Artist Placement Group, in: Exh.cat. John Latham, Art After Physics, Stuttgart Rejkjavik Oxford : edition hanns jörg meier, 1991.
Texts for Download
All texts are PDF files to be read with the Acrobat Reader:
Marginal Notes On The Photographic Historiography Of The 1970s (2008)
Thinking About Art at Jusshi School (2007)
Time Image Value, or: How I Learned To Love Forgetting (2004)
Peter Keetman Light Shaft And Adjustable Tripod (2003)
Gudrun Kemsa Turning Gliding Forming Seeing (2003)
The complete catalogue of Mona Breede’s exhibition at the Gallery Dittmar Berlin (2003)
The Tashkent lectures on Design, Media, and Education (2000):