Anatol Kotte: Iconication

Rihanna, Angela Merkel, John Turturro, Martin Kippenberger, Mario Draghi and even Miss Piggy have little in common except that each has stood in front of the camera of Anatol Kotte. Published by Hatje Cantz in 2015, *Anatol Kotte: Iconication* brings together 152 photographs by the Hamburg photographer, whose portraits have appeared in Time, Die Zeit, Stern and L’Uomo Vogue. By the time of publication he had spent decades photographing well-known people, mostly in black and white.

The book keeps returning to a single question: at what moment does a likeness become an icon? Kotte’s method, as the volume presents it, is to approach each sitter candidly and to look for the unusual gaze, the unexpected bearing, the unforeseen setting — preferably in black and white, and with movement held in the frame. The publisher’s account of the results is that the pictures read as cool and detached at first sight and as emotional and dramatic on closer inspection, allowing the people portrayed to reveal sides of themselves that their public image rarely admits.

The portraits are interspersed with views of cities and landscapes, and the book’s governing idea extends across both: the world and the individuals in it are treated as icons, offered up for a second, unfamiliar look. Set among the faces, these places and prospects change the pace of the sequence and widen what might otherwise be a gallery of celebrities into something closer to a meditation on how images acquire the weight of symbols.

The volume is a large-format hardcover of 224 pages, 288 by 357 mm, with German and English texts and a foreword by Nadine Barth and the photographer; Julia Wagner of grafikanstalt designed it. For collectors, its value lies in seeing a body of magazine portrait work from this period assembled between covers, and in the company it keeps here — the portraits held in conversation with the city and landscape pictures that give the sequence its counterweight.

Rihanna, John Turturro, Angela Merkel, Martin Kippenberger, Mario Draghi, and even Miss Piggy share two things in common: they are world-famous and they have all stood before Anatol Kotte's camera. His unique portrait photographs are known from Time Magazine, Die Zeit, Stern, and L'Uomo Vogue. But what makes Kotte's photographs special? At first glance, they appear cool and detached; on closer inspection, they are emotional and dramatic. Through them, the subjects get to discover a completely different side of themselves. Kotte approaches without prejudice, searching for the special gaze, the unexpected pose or environment – preferably in black and white, always moving. Interspersed among the portraits are surprising views of cities and landscapes. The world and its people become icons, and we are given a whole new perspective on them.

Designed by: Julia Wagner, grafikanstalt
Vorwort von: Nadine Barth, Anatol Kotte
German, English
October 2015, 224 Pages , 152 Photos
hardcover
288mm x 357mm
ISBN:978-3-7757-4035-7

Publisher page editorial text:
| Not just a façade: what turns a photograph into an icon?
Rihanna, John Turturro, Angela Merkel, Martin Kippenberger, Mario Draghi, and Miss Piggy share two things: they are world famous, and they have all stood in front of the camera of Anatol Kotte. His unique portrait photographs have featured in publications such as Time, Die Zeit, Stern, or L’Uomo Vogue. But what makes Kotte’s photographs special? At first glance they are cool and distant, and at second glance emotional and dramatic. They permit those being portrayed to discover very different aspects of themselves. Kotte approaches them candidly, seeks a special gaze, an unexpected demeanor or environment—preferably in black and white, always moving. The portraits are also interspersed with surprising views of cities and landscapes. The world and individuals become icons, and we can take a very new look at them.

Publisher source ↗