Henry Wessel
The poetry of everyday life
Experiencing the glaring light of the Californian sun for the first time was a revelation for Henry Wessel as a young man. In 1969, shortly after completing his photography studies in New York, he moved to the West Coast of the United States, where he would live for the rest of his life. From then onwards, he explored this newly discovered luminance in his images. Most of the photographs in his long career show motifs from the sun-kissed states of America, above all his beloved California. This is also where he shot the 27 works for his “Incidents” series over a period of four decades. However, anyone expecting the pictures to show sensational occurrences or major events will probably be disappointed.
Rather, Wessel’s photos show fleeting, everyday observations captured on his wanderings through the neighbourhoods of San Francisco, which had quickly become his home. His attention was caught by scenes of daily urban life: people on the way to work, hanging out, relaxed, sunk in contemplation, or going about their business. Trusting his intuition alone, he photographed spontaneously, sometimes even through the open window of his car. Despite this casual approach, the images in “Incidents” are pervaded by an almost mysterious tension. Because Wessel’s perspective is above all that of an invisible observer. There is hardly any eye contact with his subjects; he photographed most of the people from behind, sometimes close up, and yet apparently unnoticed. Many of his pictures recall film stills, pertaining to events that are out of the viewer’s sight. Nothing is happening right now, but maybe in a minute?
Wessel’s use of light in this respect is remarkable. In each of his photos, the sun illuminates the scene with full force, so that his subjects – some fully dressed, others less so – appear almost sculptural. At the same time, the reflections, deep shadows and strong contrasts in his black-and-white images create an emotional detachment to what is happening.
In his photographic work, Wessel always remained a perfectionist. Right up until his death, he developed each of his prints himself in his darkroom. But often, he felt the need to gain some distance from the moment of capturing the image, taking sometimes months or even years before he could approach his pictures from a fresh angle. “Incidents” speaks volumes about this method. It was to be Wessel’s last major series, which came about while he was combing through his archives. It encapsulates, without giving details of the time or place of the individual photos, what mattered most to him: the magic of the mundane.
Biographical information
1942
born in Teaneck, New Jersey, USA
1966
graduates in Psychology at Pennsylvania State University
1972
graduates in Photography at the State University of New York
1975
participates in an exhibition at George Eastman House in Rochester, New York titled "New Topographies: Photographs of Man-Changed Landscapes"
2008
receives the German Photo Book Prize
2018
dies in Point Richmond, California, USA