Paul Swiridoff

Excellent portrait exhibition entitled "Faces of an Epoch"

01.07.2005 - 15.08.2005

In cooperation with the Würth museum, part of the excellent portrait exhibition entitled "Faces of an Epoch" by Paul Swiridoff is accessible to the general public in the LAUDA FabrikGalerie. Paul Swiridoff was born in 1914 in Vladikavkas, Caucasus. He lived in Berlin between 1934 and 1940. From 1940, he spent 10 years in Ludwigsburg, after which he moved to Schwäbisch Hall in 1950 - he ran his own photo studio here until 1980. One of Swiridoff’s positions was as editor-in-chief and publisher between 1971 and 1991 of the ”Würth report” newspaper of the globally-operating Würth Group: a position which took him around the world in his capacity as both a photographer and a journalist exploring the Würth world. Paul Swiridoff died in Schwäbisch Hall in 2002. At the beginning of his career, he was concerned mainly with landscapes and townscapes. Then he started on his first portraits, which made him famous. Following a long rest, he had the ambition of tracking down the nature of time in the faces of leading personalities over half of the last century. His book entitled ”Faces of an Epoch” could be interpreted as the final chapter and as a bridge between a legendary post-war period and the world as it approached the end of the last century. With this 50th book of pictures, Swiridoff has immortalised a time period of 50 years as the result of his passionate search for the mysteries in the faces of his contemporaries. In the last paragraph of his preface ”Marginal notes on my encounters over five decades”, Swiridoff writes, ”Maybe this book is also unusual in the way it reflects, in these faces, the human element, the all-too human element and the eternal human element over decades, all made visible by the same author”. A silent request to read the faces. Ultimately, an earthly creation awakens a profound, human interest and a greater enchantment than the actual creation itself. He frequently speaks of the landscape which represents the human countenance. Any observer of his portraits is bound to agree: it is impossible to avoid thinking of an ancient, cracked mountain landscape when looking at the image of Adenauer. Swiridoff said, ”Nowhere else does the miracle of the creation of humanity manifest itself as touchingly as in the landscape of the human face”. It is fascinating, at the end of this century, to cast a glance back to some of the minds which have left their marks on the past few decades. Anyone who, upon first reflection, missed that no categories are formed – i.e. politicians, artists, intellectuals – will be enlightened, upon observation of the exhibition, that this is not possible. The highly-interesting exhibition in the LAUDA FabrikGalerie is open for viewing during the normal opening hours through to the beginning of August 2005.

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