Structures of Identity. A exhibition from The Walther Collection

This exhibition shows how photographers from different cultures and historical periods have used the power of portraiture to affirm or question the social stereotypes created around themes of gender, social class and nationality. Structures of Identity invites us to reflect on how portrait photography has evolved, visualizing the political and cultural factors that shape individual and collective subjectivities, with a particular focus on the relationship between self-representation and social identity.

The exhibition begins its journey presenting remarkable examples of historical and vernacular photographs of unknown authors. Thus, the exhibition shows us how from the origins of photography in the 1840s, the portraits of individuals, from the family album to the photograph from the police, denote social hierarchies.

The most iconic work of photographers such as August Sander, Richard Avedon or Seydou Keïtaare complemented by photographs by contemporary artists such as Samuel Fosso, Guy Tillim or Zhang Huan. Thus we find the emblematic project of August Sander Rostros of our time that, through sixty portraits of workers, farmers, students, artists and the bourgeoisie in general, wanted to show the archetypes of the Germany of the early twentieth century.

The exhibition also includes the ambitious project of the renowned photographer Richard Avedon, La familia (1974), an order by the magazine Rolling Stone to tell the pantheon of the American political class through a series of sharp portraits of the political power clique. The project of the Nigerian J.D.’Okhai Ojeikere, who embarked on the ambitious project of systematically registering Nigeria's cultural elements through a wide variety of women's hairstyles that remind us of delicate sculptures, should also be highlighted.

The selection of works for this exhibition thus emphasizes the work of artists who have used the portrait to subvert visual expectations and challenge the identification markers, questioning the notion of a stable and authentic "I".

In short, this new exhibition highlights the different ways in which subjectivity and social identity are built and the value they have within the history of the medium. In addition, it illustrates The Walther Collection's effort to explore the history of photography beyond conventional, temporal, cultural and geographic boundaries.