to see or to be seen

Opening | 3:00 PM, 05.11.2025

Since the early 1990s, the German photographer Birgit Kleber has been capturing portraits of fellow photographers in her ongoing series, Photographers. She started in Berlin, where she is based, and later expanded her work to the key "incubators" of Modern art: Paris and New York. Over three decades, the series has grown to more than 100 portraits—a curated who's who of photography. It features many world-renowned and lesser-known yet equally fascinating figures, including some who are no longer with us—making the series a striking visual chronicle of photography’s global history. In Photographers, Kleber works exclusively in black and white, using natural daylight and carefully staged postures that draw focus to the eyes of her subjects. These gazes at times reveal fleeting expressions that seem to transcend time, capturing what should only be visible for a fraction of a second and preserving it in the photograph’s still eternity.

For the series Việt-Đức: 20 Gesichter, 20 Geschichten, Birgit Kleber photographed 20 German-Vietnamese individuals on behalf of the Goethe-Institut, the German Embassy, and AHK in Vietnam. The series honors 20 remarkable personalities who have resiliently made their mark across various fields, capturing their most authentic expressions, shedding light on a topic that is not often presented in the public perception and encouraging the next generations to make their own way. Inspired by the colors of both the German and Vietnamese flags, the recurring use of black, red, and gold/yellow backgrounds runs throughout the series—visually linking the portraits and symbolically connecting the two countries. Each portrait is the result of a shared attitude between the artist and her subject. Kleber begins the process by demonstrating an attitude as an offer. If this offer is accepted, a dialogue unfolds, and through that exchange, the portrait takes shape.

Together, Photographers seems to represent those who see, while 20 Gesichter those who are seen in the to see or to be seen exhibition. Yet, by being captured in photography, all subjects are both seen and, in turn, look directly at us, the audience. In playing with the nature of the medium and the identity of its subjects, the exhibition presents a compelling series of portraits—raising a timeless question that has echoed since the dawn of modern society: What does it mean to see and to be seen? And how can we ensure that more diverse voices and faces continue to be seen, heard, and valued?