ning-quick determination of subject, detail, light,
and perspective, it also demonstrates a perfect sta-
ging of the scene that lends the momentary situa-
tions a meaning far beyond the event.
Despite competition from television and the
changes brought about by digital photography,
Lebeck does not view the future of photojournal-
ism with pessimism:
The most important thing, and the reason I believe in the
futureofstillphotography,isthatstillphotosremainlonger
inone’smemory.GeorgStefanTrolleronceformulatedthis
observation in a vivid way and gave a series of very illumi-
nating examples. It is curious that when one thinks of pho-
tographic images, one thinks of still photographs. Troller
knew what he was talking about, because he had made
many provocative films for television. No one seems to
remember precisely, but Troller once explained that the
photoappearstocapturetime, tovanquishtime, tosubdue
the duration of time, and photography is an act that chal-
lengestransitorinessandbecauseofthisexhortsourpassio-
nateparticipation.Inmyopinion,onecannotbetterphrase
the reasons to speak of a future for photojournalism.
(Steinorth 1993, 11)
Lebeck is internationally known not only as a
photographer but also as a collector. At the end of
the 1960s, he began collecting nineteenth-century
photographs. According to Lebeck, he purchased
his first daguerreotype in the United States in 1967
and started collecting postcards of photographic
journalism. Soon his interests widened from the
pioneers of photography to the amateurs with ar-
tistic ambitions. At important auctions in the
1970s, a collector with little money but an eye for
quality could procure striking examples of the his-
tory of photography. He had a special interest in
new discoveries, tracking down unknown and for-
gotten photographic works and undervalued treas-
ures. With an unconventional way of proceeding
and an eye for quality photographs, Lebeck has
made a substantial international contribution to
the history of photography. In 1993 the city of
Cologne purchased his complete collection of
more than 11,000 photographs.
RudolfScheutleSeealso:Photography in Germany and Austria
Biography
Born in Berlin, Germany, March 21, 1929. Soldier in
World War II, 1944; high school in Donaueschingen,
1945–1948; ethnology studies in Zurich, 1948–1949,
and at Columbia University in New York, 1949–1951.
Return to Germany, employee at U.S. Army headquar-
ters in Heidelberg, 1951. Freelance photojournalist for
newspapers in Heidelberg, 1952–1955; editor ofRevue,
1955–1960; photojournalist for Kristall, 1961–1962;
photojournalist forStern, 1962–1963; photojournalist
forSternin New York, 1966–1968; editor in chief of
Geo, photojournalist for Stern, 1979–1995. Exhibit
Sammlung Lebeck: Fotografie des 19. Jahrhunderts
(The Lebeck Collection: Photography of the Nine-
teenth Century) in Berlin, 1982; awarded the Dr.-
Erich-Salomon-Preis from the German Society for
Photography, 1991. Moved to southern France, 1994.
ExhibitsAlles Wahrheit! Alles Lu ̈ge! Photographie und
Wirklichkeit im 19. Jahrhundert. Die Sammlung Robert
Lebeck (Everything Is Truth! Everything Is Lies!
Photography and Reality in the Nineteenth Century:
The Robert Lebeck Collection),Agfa Foto-Historama
at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum/Museum Ludwig, Co-
logne, 1997. Lives as a freelance photojournalist in
southern France.Individual Exhibitions
1962 Tokio—Mokau—Leopoldville; Museum fu ̈r Kunst und
Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
1983 Augenzeuge Robert Lebeck: 30 Jahre Zeitgeschichte;
Stadtmuseum, Kiel, Germany
1991 Robert Lebeck: Fotoreportage; Couvert de Mines, Per-
pignan, France, and Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Ger-
many
1993 Robert Lebeck—Fotoreportage Churchill in Bonn; His-
torisches Museum der Pfalz, Speyer, Germany
1995 Die Portra ̈ts; Palais Palffy, Vienna, AustriaGroup Exhibitions
1996 Das deutsche Auge; Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
1998 Signaturen des Sichtbaren: Ein Jahrhundert der Foto-
grafie in Deutschland; Galerie am Fischmarkt, Erfurt,
and Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn, GermanyFurther Reading
Bo ̈ttger, Tete, ed.Robert Lebeck: Vis-a`-vis.Go ̈ttingen: Steidl,
1999.Robert Lebeck, Ein Kongolese entreisst Konig Boudouin
von Belgien den Degen, Leopoldville, 1960.
[#Fotomuseum im Munchner Stadtmuseum. Photo repro-
duced with permission of the artist]LEBECK, ROBERT