logne (called Photokina after 1951). One review
described the explosive force of the fotoform exhi-
bition as an ‘‘atomic bomb in the manure pile of
German photography.’’
In 1950, under the overall control of Otto Steinert,
a worldwide photography movement developed
from fotoform called ‘‘subjective photography’’
that existed until the fall of 1991. In his many exhi-
bits of subjective photography, Steinert borrowed
from the organizational impulse of fotoform, and,
in internationalizing and popularizing the group, he
altered it. The other members gradually withdrew
from the stage and worked as commercial, indus-
trial, portrait, and theater photographers.
Keetman received enormous publicity from the
success of his shows. He participated in nearly
every important exhibition of the 1950s and
1960s, and his works appeared in almost every
photography journal.
After the 1950s, Keetman made a living on com-
missioned works, industrial reports, and photography
for illustrated volumes of art textbooks. He also dedi-
cated himself to illustrating books on urban and rural
landscapes, such asMunich(1955) andBavarian Lake
Country(1958), which were very successful. These
commissions also stimulated his free photographic
work. One of his best-known series was published in
the bookVolkswagen: A Week at the Factory,which
collected a series of photographs made within the
Wolfsburg VW assembly line in 1953.
He always took time to systematically investigate
the photographic potential of objects. He would
examine the representability of an object in a long
series of trials. The image always aimed to capture
the essential structure of the object. He also made
countless landscape prints, mainly in the upper
Bavarian area of Chiemgau, that are distinguished
by their concentration on line and on graphic qua-
lities. Keetman’s technical experiments with move-
ment studies in the 1950s were also commercially
valued. HisLichtpendelm-Schwingungsbilder(Light
Pendulum—Images in Oscillation), in which a mov-
ing light source traces curves over the photo paper,
was used in advertising.
Keetman’s artistic work is concerned with inter-
preting the energies that give objects shape and
drawing out the essential forms, themes, and sub-
jects. To accomplish this, he uses all the possibilities
for representing an object that the technology of
photography offers. His perception of things sug-
gests the natural world, in whose structural compo-
sition he sees a model for comprehending all things
in life.
Keetman’s photography avoids any narrative
impulse and has no formal foregrounding construc-
tion. It concentrates on the energy of the things
themselves. In this sense, his works more closely
belong to the ‘‘informal’’—the most radical answer
to the new freedom of the postwar period. The
concept of the informal was first raised by Michel
Tapie ́in 1951 and is not bound solely to a rejection
of any figuration or content, but also suggests the
greater meaningfulness of matter in relation to
form, and thus the self-shaping powers inherent in
all matter. This is the last radical essay into tradi-
tional art and onto the plane of metaphysical
experience. The artistic rendering of this experience
that flows directly from the artist in the process of
painting or drawing sets a natural limit for the
camera. Nevertheless, it is amazing that attempts
are made in photography to reach a similar experi-
ence by eliminating the fact of the camera—so that
one attempts to retrace self-shaping powers to the
photographic materials.
As Keetman wrote in 1950, the eye for detail
leads to a new natural order and form: nature is
the master instructor of simplicity and truth; these
two are symbols for photography.
RudolfScheutle
Seealso:Schneiders, ToniBiography
Born in Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Germany, April 27, 1916.
Attended Bayerische Staatslehranstalt fu ̈r Lichtbildwesen
(today: Staatliche Fachakademie fu ̈r Fotodesign), Mu-
nich; Duisburg, 1935–1937 and 1947–1948. Assistant to
Gertrud Hesse, 1937; assistant to Carl-Heinz Schmeck,- Course work with Adolf Lazi, Stuttgart, 1948.
Founding member of the group fotoform, 1949. Industrial
reports; freelance commercial photography; many book
publications. After 1969, honored member of Bund
Freischaffender Foto-Designer (Society of Independent
Photo Designers), Germany. David Octavius Hill Medal
from the Gesellschaft Deutscher Lichtbildner (Society of
German Transparency Photographers). Lives in Mar-
quartstein, Bavaria.
Selected Individual Exhibitions
1981 Fotomuseum im Mu ̈nchner Stadtmuseum, Munich
1982 Benteler Galleries, Houston, Texas
1986 Galerie voor Industriele Vormgeving, Amsterdam,
Netherlands
1988 Galerie Zur Stockeregg, Zurich, Switzerland
1988 Fotohof Gallery, Salzburg, AustriaSelected Group Exhibitions
1948 Exposition Art Photographique, Ausstellung Photogra-
phischer Kunst, Neustadt an der Hardt, Germany
1948 Die Photographie 1948, Stuttgart, GermanyKEETMAN, PETER