Hans-Jürgen Burkard

Hans-Jürgen Burkard

“In each of the photos, there are facets 
to be discovered that are not always 
considered typically German, but which 
nevertheless represent this country.“

Hans-Jürgen Burkard

Hans-Jürgen Burkard, one of the great contemporary reportage photographers, has undertaken an extraordinary musical and photographic journey through Germany: a journey in which new – and some older – German song lyrics provided him with the template and material for a photographic portrait of German conditions and sensitivities. German pop music, critical, caustic, but also loving and self-confident: What does it reveal about the country, what is reflected in it? Hans-Jürgen Burkard has translated lyrics such as Mädchen von Kreuzberg by Prinz Pi, Rotlichtmilieu by Haftbefehl, Eppendorf by Samy Deluxe or Hinterland by Casper into big pictures: free, weird, disturbing, happy, enigmatic – and in any case, great. 

After 35 years, initially working for GEO and then for stern mainly abroad, it was a homecoming for Burkard. With a thick stack of printed lyrics on the passenger seat, he literally ‘experienced’ the republic over thousands of kilometres, inspired by the music, looking for moods and situations that matched it. He found it among stranded whales on Dithmarschen’s North Sea coast and at the traditional Gäubodenfest in Straubing, flying over Alpine choughs on the summit of the Zugspitze and among the legacies of ‘Rock am Ring’ visitors. The result is a poetic image of Germany of enchanting power. 

Hans-Jürgen Burkard studied visual communication. Since the late 1970s, he has worked exclusively for GEO and in 1989 he moved to Moscow as an accredited photo correspondent for stern, where he photographed many award-winning reports in the former Soviet Union. They are considered outstanding examples of classic photojournalism. In 2021, he was honoured with the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize for his life’s work. He has been awarded several World Press Photo Awards and is the only German photographer to have received the INFINITY Award for ‘Photojournalism’ from the ICP in New York.