FROM THE 7th INTERNATIONALE FOTOTAGE MANNHEIM/LUDWIGSHAFEN TO
THE 3rd FOTOFESTIVAL MANNHEIM_LUDWIGSHAFEN_HEIDELBERG
Following six successful runs of the Internationale Fototage in the Westphalian city of Herten, the first photo festival in the metropolitan region took place in 2005. The
7th Internationale Fototage Mannheim/Ludwigshafen addressed the themes “Contemporary American Photography” and “Die Kunst Deutsche(r) zu sein” (The Art of Being German). Director of the festival was
Hansjoachim Nierentz.
With a new structure, a new name, and with Heidelberg as a third partner,
Christoph Tannert, director of the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, curated the
2nd Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg on the theme of “Reality Crossings.”
In 2009, under the heading of “Images Recalled – Bilder auf Abruf,” the
3rd Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg demonstrated how the photographic image orders and structures our perspective of the world. The festival was directed by Tobias Berger (chief curator at the Nam June Paik Art Center in Seoul, South Korea) and the photo specialist
Esther Ruelfs.