The Bauhaus Archive in Berlin is a small museum, but chock full of examples of the work of Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Herbert Bayer, and, of course, the chairs of Marcel Breuer. We had a variation of his chairs, upholstered in yellow vinyl, in my kitchen when I was growing up the 1950s in small-town Iowa. Amazing that such famous design trickles down like that to affect the lives of people like me, who had no idea.
This was a “snap” shot taken with the Canon S110, in direct contradiction to the Archive's no photo policy. I'd taken another shot earlier and got a rather over long lecture from one of the guards, in German. So, I kind of snuck this one out of my pocket and pointed and shot. ISO 1600, 1/13 sec exposure, f/5.6. I processed it in lightroom to even out the contrast a bit, then imported it into NIK Silver Efex to make it black and white and soften it using the Sepia preset. Bauhaus just sort of screams black and white sometimes.
For more info about the equipment I use, see this page.
Well, this museum has made chairs more interesting than we would have thought. Your B&W photo works well!
Lots of great designers did chairs: Morris, Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Eames. They’re fascinating.
We were at the Bauhaus a week ago and were also told off for taking photos. We managed to sneak in a few anyway. Here is our blog for that day if you are interested (we are traveling for a year until Jan 2014)
http://awaycarlen-gapyear2013q4.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/thu-14-nov-berlin-germany.html
Usually not worth arguing with them I find. One, you can’t win, and two, I have this tiny little camera that fits in the palm of my hand and is completely quiet. I can always get a shot if I want. Not usually that interested in shots inside museums, though. But I just liked the composition of the people looking at the chairs.
Recommend a visit to the Stasi prison at Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen if you haven’t been. Went there today. Very gruesome and thought provoking.
This is one site I haven’t made it to yet. From the photo, it looks like a great stop.
Corinne, if you’re interested in the history of design, it’s a must. A small museum that can easily be covered in an hour, but there’s plenty to see. Great shop, too, where you can buy a lot of items influenced by the Bauhaus designers.