Bernd and Hilla Becher

Art student with a preference for industrial monuments

Only birth and death separated Bernd and Hilla Becher; they spent the majority of their life together and shared a unique artistic career. Bern Becher was born Bernhard Becher on 20 August 1931 in Siegen into a family of craftsmen and was apprenticed with his father from 1947 to 1950 in his decorative painting business. A trip to Italy followed which strengthened his interest in art and eventually led him to the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. There he studied free graphics with Karl Rössing from 1953 to 1956. He later moved to Düsseldorf and studied typography at the art academy, met Hilla Wobeser in a local advertising agency, whom he finally married in 1961. Even before studying, Bernd Becher had been very interested in industrial monuments and had made numerous drawings and paintings of corresponding motifs. 

Hilla Becher’s calling was photography

Hilla Becher was born in Potsdam on 2 September 1934, the daughter of the middle-class Wobeser family. She was interested in photography from early on and was encouraged by her mother who had trained as a photographer herself. From 1951, Hilla Becher was apprenticed to the photographer Walter Eichgrün - the son of the former court photographer Ernst Eichgrün - who not only produced portraits, but also documented the historic palace grounds and the cityscape of Potsdam. Hilla worked as his assistant in this and gained experience that would prove extremely useful for her later career as an artist. After an intermezzo in Hamburg working for an aerial photography company, she moved to Hubert Troost’s advertising agency in Düsseldorf, where she met her future husband Bernd Becher.  

Teaching in Düsseldorf; breakthrough at documenta

Bernd and Hilla Becher attended the Düsseldorf Art Academy together, studying commercial graphics under Walter Breker, set up their own photography workshop, and taught students themselves from 1976. The so-called ‘Becher School’ produced many greats of photography, including Götz Diergarten, Elger Esser, Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Jörg Sasse and Thomas Struth. Participation in document 5 brought the artistic breakthrough for Bernd and Hilla Becher: Their series of black and white photographs caught international attention and, with it, invitations from all over the world. The artist couple documented industrial sites in Europe and the USA with their large-format cameras and with the straightforward black and white images, created a new awareness of the intrinsic beauty and aesthetics of these buildings. Half-timbered houses, water towers and gas tanks became fascinating attractions in sprawling series of pictures. As many of the buildings were demolished soon after being photographed, the Bechers’ work is not only of great artistic merit, but also of great historical value. 

Bernd Becher died on 22 June 2007 in Rostock. His widow, alone, continued the work they had started. Hilla Becher died of a severe stroke on 10 October 2015.