Hilla Becher
author · photographer
Hilla Becher (1934–2015) was a German artist and photographer who, alongside her husband Bernd Becher, revolutionized the field of industrial photography. Together, they created extensive typologies of industrial architecture in Western Europe and North America. Hilla Becher's contribution was central to their collaborative practice, which focused on the aesthetic and structural qualities of disappearing industrial structures like cooling towers and blast furnaces. She was a key figure in the Düsseldorf School of Photography, where she and Bernd influenced generations of artists by emphasizing the conceptual and formal aspects of documentary work. Her work was recognized with major awards, including the Erasmus Prize and the Hasselblad Award, and her late-career retrospectives at institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art cemented their legacy as masters of industrial landscape and architectural form.[1,2]
- industrial architecture
- typology
- New Objectivity
- topography
- preservation
Books
-
Blast Furnaces€210.00
Works by Hilla Becher
- 1990 Blast Furnaces Co-authored with Bernd Becher
- 1970 Anonyme Skulpturen : Eine Typologie technischer Bauten Typologies of industrial buildings
- 1977 Framework Houses Visual catalog of types of structures
- 1988 Water Towers Part of a series of industrial typologies
Exhibitions
- 1981 Bernd & Hilla Becher
- 2008 Bernd and Hilla Becher
Awards
- 2002 Erasmus Prize
- 2004 Hasselblad Award
- 2014 Großer Kulturpreis
References
- Bernd and Hilla Becher. Wikipedia. 2026 link
- Bernd Becher. Getty Research Institute. 2026 link
- Bernd and Hilla Becher. Wikipedia. 2026 link
- Bernd and Hilla Becher. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2008 link
- Erasmus Prize. Erasmus Prize. 2002 link
- Hasselblad Award. Hasselblad Foundation. 2004 link
- Großer Kulturpreis. Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Rheinland. 2014 link