Gundlach goes to Japan

Light-colored dresses, summerlight, clearly structured image spaces and a composition that effortlessly connects fashion and environment. The photographs bear the visual language of F.C. Gundlach, as we know it, for example, from his fashion photographs for Brigitte magazine. However, we found the slides in our archive not in their usual frames, but in those of Japanese photo agencies.

The imprint "ORION PRESS, Tokyo" refers to an internationally active photo agency that represented Gundlach's photographs in Japan. Further stamps and stickers show that the slides were also offered through the Tohoku Color Agency in Sendai and the JAPACK agency in Hiroshima. The frames thus document the journey of the photographs through an international distribution network.

Further Japanese inscriptions provide clues about motifs and usage. In addition to the signature "GND", which stands for Gundlach, there are terms such as "ウェディング" – "Wedding" – and "女性", Japanese for "woman". Barcodes, handwritten numbers, and other abbreviations presumably served for internal organization, price information, or proof of individual loans.

The Japanese slide frames make it clear that Gundlach's fashion photography circulated far beyond the German magazine market. They tell the story of the paths Gundlach's images took after their creation, through agencies, editorial offices, and archives.