JUERGEN KLAUKE - FOTOSEQUENZEN - 1972 / 1980

JUERGEN KLAUKE - FOTOSEQUENZEN - 1972 / 1980

Published by: Elke Betzel Verlag, Frankfurt A. M., 1982

Hardcover, 160 pages ca

21,4 x 27,8 cm

Language: German

Condition: Excellent

Fotosequenzen 1972–1980 by Jürgen Klauke is a powerful collection of photographic sequences that challenge conventional notions of identity, gender, and the human body. Through a series of staged, black-and-white images, Klauke constructs a world where the boundaries between male and female, self and performance, reality and illusion blur into one another.
During the 1970s, Klauke was one of the pioneers of body art and photographic conceptualism in Germany. His work is deeply performative, often placing himself at the center of his compositions, using costume, makeup, and exaggerated gestures to create unsettling yet deeply expressive personas. His “photo sequences” are not static portraits but visual narratives—sometimes humorous, often disturbing—that deconstruct the rigid gender roles and social norms of the time.
One of the most striking aspects of Fotosequenzen is its exploration of transformation. The body becomes a malleable medium, shifting between states of vulnerability, power, seduction, and absurdity. Some images recall the aesthetics of cabaret and androgynous glamour, while others veer into the grotesque, with distorted expressions and surreal juxtapositions that make the viewer question what is staged and what is authentic.
Klauke’s work from this period can be seen as a precursor to later explorations of identity in contemporary art, influencing photographers and performance artists alike. The book captures an artist at a pivotal moment, using photography not just as documentation but as a means of constructing new, radical ways of seeing and being.