Bergemann (1941-2010) was one of the most important and progressive European photographers, said art historian and curator Matthias Flugge.

“Her timeless portraits and fashion photographs for her magazine Sibyl created style icons for an entire generation,” Flugge said.

Bergemann was also able to critically reflect the social developments of her time, and many of her photos have made history, such as a picture of two graces, posing in beach chairs with downturned mouths, which offered a counterpoint to the feminine ideal in Germany.

The dozens of black-and-white photos in the exhibition are just a small sample of Bergemann’s collections but represent her different schools of art, such as cityscapes, portraits, and fashion.

“Bergemann documented the desire for freedom and the creative potential that could develop in spite of political restrictions,” Flugge said.

“She was a sensitive observer, and the people in her photographs were presented with dignity and authenticity and with highest aesthetic standards. Her work has not lost its relevance and continued to be valued internationally.”

She represented individualistic ideals within an ‘apparently controlled, pseudo-egalitarian society’ and transferred of images, Flugge wrote in the preface to the exhibition catalogue.

The exhibition will run until November 12 at the Goethe Institute on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street.

VNS