Re/Trace: Formations of Likeness

A panoply of conceptual, documentary and vernacular images exploring influences on individual self-fashioning, identity and lived experience

Whereas previous publications by the Walther Collection have explored singular aspects of its holdings, Re/Trace is their first volume to juxtapose images from different cultures, time periods and materialities. With examples from Africa, the Americas, Europe and eastern Asia, and with image types ranging from portraiture to photojournalism to conceptual to vernacular and archival photography, it presents a thorough, global dialogue on the diverse paths of development in historical and contemporary image productions. The overarching theme uniting all of these selected examples is the body: the social, cultural and political constructions that shape not only our self-representation but also our identity and experience.
Artists include: Ai Weiwei, Richard Avedon, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Karl Blossfeldt, Mitch Epstein, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Seydou Keïta, Mike Mandel, Santu Mofokeng, Zanele Muholi, Eadweard Muybridge, Jo Ractliffe, August Sander, Malick Sidibé, Yang Fudong, Xu Yong.

This book was published in conjunction with The Walther Collection, Neu-Ulm and New York