As a photographer who remained (and served) in
Germany throughout both world wars and whose
complicity with the Third Reich remains unclear, a
summary of Hajek-Halke’s personal biography
requires a similarly nuanced attention focused
upon the details of his life and his broader contri-
butions to the medium.
LEESARittelmannSeealso:Aerial Photography; Montage; Multiple
Exposures and Printing; Photogram; Photography
in Germany and Austria
Biography
Born in Berlin, Germany, 1 December 1898. Childhood in
Argentina, returns to Berlin 1910. Studied painting at
Berlin’s Ko ̈nigliche Kunstschule, 1915–1916 and 1919–
- Active service in WWI, 1917–1919. Studies with
Berlin photographer Yva, 1924. Photographer for
Presse-Photo and Deutsches Lichtbild, 1925; Joins
National Socialist Party, 1933; Aerial photographer at
Dornier-Werke, Friedrichshafen, 1939–1944; Joins
Senckenberg Society for Natural Science, 1936; Free-
lance photographer, 1947; Joins Otto Steinert’s fotoform
group, 1950–1951. Professor of Graphic Design and
Photography, West Berlin Hochschule fu ̈r Bildende
Ku ̈nste, 1955–1970. Awarded Gold Medal, Internatio-
nalen Presseausstellung, Rome, 1933; Kulturpreis,
Society of German Photographers, 1965; David-Octa-
vius Hill Medal and Honorary Membership in the
Society of German Photographers, 1973. Appointed
Associate Member of the International Institute of Arts
and Letters, Franklin Institute for the History of Art, - Died in West Berlin, 1983.
Individual Exhibitions
1951 Subjektive fotografie; Staatlichen Schule fu ̈r Kunst
und Handwerk (State Art and Crafts School); Saar-
bru ̈cken, Germany
1956 Lichtgrafik; Franklin Institut, Lindau, Germany, tra-
veled to German Society for Photography; Cologne,
Germany
1957 Lichtgrafik; Staatliche Landesbildstelle; Hamburg,
Germany
1958 Werkkunstschule; Bielefeld, Germany
1959 Fotografia Sperimentale di H-H; Biblioteca Commu-
nale; Milan, Italy
1960 German Light-Graphics by Hajek-Halke; National
Museum of Modern Art; Tokyo, Japan
1965 Lichtgrafik; Galerie am Dom, Frankfurt, Germany
1966 Lichtgrafik; Galerie Clarissa, Hannover, and Galerie
Seestrasse, Ludwigsburg, Germany
1967 Lichtgrafik; Carleton University, Ottowa, Ontario,
Canada; University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec,
Canada, and Het Sterckshof, Antwerp, the Nether-
lands
1978 Heinz Hajek-Halke; Galerie Werner Kunze, Berlin,
Germany
1997 Heinz Hajek-Halke: Der große Unbekannte Photogra-
phien 1925–1965; Haus am Waldensee, Berlin, Germany
1998–1999Heinz Hajek-Halke—Zum 100. Geburtstag; Gal-
erie Eva Poll, Berlin, Germany
2001 Hajek-Halke; Galerie Priska Pasquer, Cologne, Ger-
many
2002 Heinz Hajek-Halke (1898–1983); Centre Pompidou—
Musee National d’Art Moderner, Paris, FranceGroup Exhibitions
1954 Foto-Grafik; Sauermondt-Museum, Aachen, Germany
(traveled to Museum fu ̈r Angewandte Kunst, Vienna,
Austria 1956)
1957 herbert bayer/hajek-halke; Kunstgewerbemuseum,
Zurich, Switzerland
1970 Fotografie-Fotografik-Lichtgrafik; Landesbildstelle,
Berlin, Germany
1978 Die Freiheit des Fotografen—Montagen/Collagen/
Lichtgrafiken; Fotomuseum im Stadtmuseum, Munich,
Germany
1984 Subjektive Fotografie,Images of the 50s; Museum Folk-
wang, Essen, Germany (traveled to the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California)
1999 Lichtseiten; Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Ludwigsha-
fen, Germany
2000 Das Experimentelle Photo 1930–1960; Galerie Argus
Fotokunst, Berlin, Germany
2002 Photographie; Kunsthaus Lempertz, Berlin, GermanySelected Works
(U ̈ble Nachrede) Defamation, 1926–1927
Das Piano—Doppelbelichtung (Piano—Double Exposure),
c. 1927
Das Eva-Chanson, c. 1929
Banjo-Spieler (Banjo Player), c. 1930
Stehender Akt (Standing Nude), 1933
Schwarz-weisser Akt (Black and White Nude), 1936
Friedhof der Fische (Fish Cemetery), 1939
Initiation (fu ̈r Franz Roh, 7.1.63), 1963
Akt im Spiegel (Nude in Mirror), c. 1930
Die Wartende (Waiting), 1958–1963
Kamakura, 1958–1963
Das Diluviale Aquarium (The Diluvial Aquarium), 1958–1963Further Reading
GDL-Edition Heinz Hajek-Halke. Leinfelden, 1978.
Hajek-Halke, Heinz. ‘‘Biographie in Bruchstu ̈cken.’’ In
Foto Prismano. 1, Du ̈sseldorf, (January 1952).
Hajek-Halke, Heinz.Experimentalle Fotografie. Lichtgra-
fik. Bonn: Athenaeum Verlag, 1955.
Hajek-Halke, Heinz.Lichtgrafik.Du ̈sseldorf and Wien:
Econ-Verlag GmbH, 1964.
Hajek-Halke, Heinz. ‘‘Vom Photogramm zum Photoher-
barium.’’ InPhotobla ̈tter12.Jg., no. 1, Berlin, (January
1935).
Heinz Hajek-Halke:Der große Unbekannte. Photographien
1925–1965. Exh. cat. Berlin: Haus am Waldsee, 1998.
Heinz Hajek-Halke. 1898–1983. Exh. cat. Paris, Go ̈ttingen,
Centre Georges Pompidous, 2002.
Honnef, Klaus, et al.Heinz Hajek-Halke: Die Ersten Dreis-
sig Jahre, 2005.HAJEK-HALKE, HEINZ