Herlinde Koelbl in New Zealand

The German Photographer and Artist Herlinde Koelbl will attend this years Auckland Festival of Photography to present her photo exhibition "Targets".

Besides two Artist Talks in Auckland she is invited to Wellington to talk about her project.

Herlinde Koelbl is one of the major political photographers in Germany. Her photos addressing burning issues of the time have made her known worldwide. Koelbl combines a journalistic documentary approach with high artistic standards in a way uniquely her own.
 

© Herlinde Koelbl Targets

The project "Targets" is a particularly impressive example of this: for years Herlinde Koelbl travelled around the world, and in a total of thirty countries made photographs of the military targets used in the training of soldiers. 

"Targets" raises questions such as: How is the enemy, who is later to be killed, portrayed? As an abstract figure or with a face? Do the targets exhibit cultural differences? Have the images representing the enemy changed?

Furthermore, in the reality of war, the soldiers themselves are always ultimately the target. Therefore the series also includes portraits of the soldiers - the living targets.