Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher

1931–2007, 1934–2015

Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher, ‘Water Towers’ 1972–2009
Water Towers 1972–2009
© Estate of Bernd Becher & Hilla Becher
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Biography

Bernhard "Bernd" Becher (German: [ˈbɛçɐ]; August 20, 1931 – June 22, 2007), and Hilla Becher, née Wobeser (September 2, 1934 – October 10, 2015), were German conceptual artists and photographers working as a collaborative duo. They are best known for their extensive series of photographic images, or typologies, of industrial buildings and structures, often organised in grids. As the founders of what has come to be known as the ‘Becher school’ or the ‘Düsseldorf School’ they influenced generations of documentary photographers and artists. They have been awarded the Erasmus Prize and the Hasselblad Award.

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Conceptual art Dusseldorf School of Photography New topographics

Artworks

Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher, ‘Water Towers’ 1972–2009

Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher Water Towers

1972–2009
P81238
Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher, ‘Gas Tanks’ 1965–2009

Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher Gas Tanks

1965–2009
P81237
Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher, ‘Pitheads’ 1974

Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher Pitheads

1974
T01922
Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher, ‘Winding Towers (Britain)’ 1966–97

Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher Winding Towers (Britain)

1966–97
P81239
Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher, ‘Blast Furnaces’ 1969–95

Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher Blast Furnaces

1969–95
P81236
Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher, ‘Coal Bunkers’ 1974

Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher Coal Bunkers

1974
T01923

Features

Thomas Struth, ‘Shinju-ku (Skyscrapers), Tokyo 1986’ 1986
Art Term

Dusseldorf School of Photography

The Dusseldorf School of Photography refers to a group of photographers who studied at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf in the mid ...

Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher, ‘Pitheads’ 1974
Art Term

New topographics

New topographics was a term coined by William Jenkins in 1975 to describe a group of American photographers (such as ...

Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher, ‘Pitheads’ 1974
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Who are Hilla and Bernd Becher?

Get to know one of the artists from the Artist and Society display at Tate Modern

Patrick Keiller Still from Robinson in Ruins 2010
Tate Papers

The Military-Pastoral Complex: Contemporary Representations of Militarism in the Landscape

Matthew Flintham

Art & Environment
John Latham Scottish Office Placement 75/76 1976
Tate Papers

Waste to Monument: John Latham’s Niddrie Woman: Art & Environment

Craig Richardson

John Latham’s Artist Placement Group residency at the Scottish Office’s Development Agency in 1975–6 led to a ...

Henry Fuseli, ‘Percival Delivering Belisane from the Enchantment of Urma’ exhibited 1783
Tate Papers

Tate Papers no.1: Spring 2004

Tate Papers, Spring 2004 edition
Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher, ‘Pitheads’ 1974
Tate Papers

The Photographic Comportment of Bernd and Hilla Becher

Blake Stimson

Bernd and Hilla Becher first began their project of systematically photographing industrial structures in the late 1950s. This paper, first ...

William Eggleston Morton, Mississippi 1969-70 dye transfer print 53 x 66.5 cm
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Cruel and tender

Carter Ratcliff

What is the place of documentary photography in art? This is the central question raised by Tate's first major ...

Bernd and Hilla Becher Water Towers USA, 1988 black-and-white photographs each 40 x 30 cm
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The long look

Michael Collins

Bernd and Hilla Becher have spent their life together photographing the unintended beauty that can be found in industrial structures ...

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