Bernd & Hilla Becher

Published in 2010 by Schirmer/Mosel, this monograph serves as a comprehensive retrospective of the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher. The husband-and-wife team gained international renown for their systematic, objective photographic documentation of industrial structures—such as water towers, cooling towers, and blast furnaces—which they presented in grid-like typologies. Their work, rooted in the New Objectivity movement, sought to preserve the architectural memory of a rapidly disappearing industrial era while elevating functional, utilitarian design to the realm of fine art.

The book design reflects the duo’s signature aesthetic: stark, monochromatic, and orderly. The collection captures their decades-long project of traveling across Europe and North America to capture these 'anonymous sculptures' with a large-format camera. The volume is considered an essential reference for those studying conceptual photography and the influence of the Düsseldorf School, which was heavily shaped by the Bechers' teaching at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where they mentored influential photographers like Andreas Gursky and Thomas Struth.