The photographer Hans-Joachim Ellerbrock began his career working in the field of documentary photography. After studying Visual Communication Design at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg, he worked for many years for renowned German and international publications such as Stern, Geo, National Geographic, Merian and the New York Times Magazine. The exceptional quality of his photographs and the characteristics of his imagery are directly related to the consequent purism Hans-Joachim Ellerbrock adheres to in his work as a street photographer, which does not allow pictures to be posed or manipulated.
In his extensive portfolio, the variety of which this catalogue attempts to portray through a selection of contrasting series, Hans-Joachim Ellerbrock succeeds in bridging the gap between pure street photography and the completely uninhibited use of the creative possibilities the medium offers, from strict purism to artistic picture composition. In all the phases of his work, this artist is especially interested in fragments, in the cracks in reality as well as the magic of the moment and on a culture of fleetingness. Hans-Joachim Ellerbrock’s works always portray his exceptional intuition for that one moment in time and thus the dimension of time – occasionally even lost and irretrievable time – is added to the art of photography, which itself seemingly stands still.
