Hauser:Schwarzes Revier

In the autumn of 1928, journalist, novelist, filmmaker, and photographer Heinrich Hauser (1901 - 1955) was commissioned by S. Fischer Verlag to gather visual material of the Ruhr area using his own photographs, as he recounts in the preface to his 1930 book "Schwarzes Revier." Alongside a wealth of fascinating images from a bygone era of the industrial Ruhr region, captured in the style of the New Vision of the 1920s, impressive and precise descriptions of the landscape, industry, and living conditions of miners and blast furnace workers emerged, which still captivate today with their density and linguistic power. The book is being published in conjunction with the exhibition of over one hundred black-and-white photographs by Heinrich Hauser at the Ruhr Museum in Essen, which will be on display starting in September 2010 as part of Ruhr2010.

The photos that Hauser used to illustrate his report resemble the contemporary professional photography of New Objectivity in their composition and perspective. They are characterized by verticals and diagonals, embodying the dynamic, aspiring, and forward-looking formulas of the new industrial processes. Herbert Molderings: "The Modernity of Photography" (2008).

A project as part of the European Capital of Culture.

In the 1920s, Heinrich Hauser was a contributor to the Frankfurter Zeitung. He wrote novels, travel books, and corporate publications, translated works including those of Liam O'Flaherty, filmed, went to sea, and flew. In 1938, he emigrated to the USA. At the initiative of Henri Nannen, he returned to Germany in 1949 and briefly served as editor-in-chief of "Stern." He died on March 25, 1955, in Diessen am Ammersee. His captivating novel about Ireland, "Donner überm Meer," was published by Weidle Verlag in 2001.