Artur Walther spent 20 years on Wall Street as an investment banker. As he neared the end of his career, he decided that rather than retire, he would develop a passion. That passion became photography, leading him to take more than a dozen classes at ICP and eventually to earn a place on the organization's board. It’s a position he held in one form or another for 16 years. For his commitment to ICP and the field of photography, he is being recognized as the 2016 Infinity Award winner: Trustee.
Over the years, Walter’s greatest passion became collecting. He converted his mother’s house in Ulm, Germany into an exhibition space and has slowly amassed the world’s largest privately held collection of African photography. He has exhibited the work across the world and published many renowned books,.
Walther is less concerned with the “perfect moment.” For him, it’s about “understanding and learning and investigating certain themes and cultures.”
Credits
Special Thanks
Evelyn Owen
Daniela Baumann
This film was made possible with the generous support of Harbers Studios.
Related Links
Throughout the modern era, photography has been enlisted not only to document but also to classify the world and its people. Its status bolstered by a popular belief in the scientific objectivity of photographic evidence, photography has been used, from the earliest days of the medium, to produce and organize knowledge about the external world.
The Walther Collection is one of the most prominent international collections of African photography. This three-volume work represents the culmination of the collection's multi-year exhibition and publishing program, investigating African photography and video through the themes of portraiture, landscape, and the historic archive.
Mikhael Subotzky and Patrick Waterhouse worked at Ponte City, the iconic Johannesburg apartment building which is Africa's tallest residential skyscraper, for more than six years. They photographed the residents and documented the building-every door, the view from every window, the image on every television screen. This remarkable body of images is presented here in counterpoint with an extensive archive of found material and historical documents.
Goal
Since 1985, the International Center of Photography has recognized outstanding achievements in photography with its prestigious Infinity Awards. The awards ceremony is also ICP’s primary fundraising benefit, with its revenues assisting the center's various programs.
Harbers Studios commissioned MediaStorm, on behalf of ICP, to create a short film about each of the recipients to screen at the awards ceremony and to display online. The films pay tribute to the contributions of each artist to the craft and field of photography and demonstrate ICP's commitment to them.
The Challenge
The challenge in producing this piece was one of location. The team interviewed Walther in his New York City studio which does not figure in the film. Rather, a primary focus is his converted Lum exhibition space.
The Solution
Working with Walther’s colleagues, MediaStorm procured the licensing rights to two previously produced segments on the collection. The produce then selected appropriate visuals to compliment the New York interview as well as images also obtained from Walther’s team.
The Results
The films were shown on April 11, 2015 at the 2016 International Center of Photography’s Infinity Awards in New York and launched online on April 12, 2016.
The films available here are the full-length pieces. We also created shorter versions to show at the awards ceremony.
About The Client
This film was a collaboration with Harbers Studio and the International Center of Photography.
Harbers Studios turbocharges the efforts of charitable entrepreneurs by helping them tell their stories. Our goal is to help them articulate and share the value of the work they do so they can inspire others to help them do it. Working with some of the best filmmaking talent in the world, Harbers Studios creates compelling visual narratives that enhance the endeavors of organizations working to make the world a better place.
The International Center of Photography (ICP) is the world’s leading institution dedicated to the practice and understanding of photography and the reproduced image in all its forms. Through exhibitions, educational programs, and community outreach, ICP offers an open forum for dialogue about the role images play in our culture. Since ICP’s founding, they have presented more than 500 exhibitions and offered thousands of classes, providing instruction at every level. ICP is a center where photographers and artists, students and scholars can create and interpret the world of the image within our comprehensive educational facilities and archive.
Donate
As a privately funded nonprofit arts and education organization, ICP depends in large part on friends such as you for support. Your generosity is vital to ICP as it continues to grow and succeed in its mission: to present photography's extraordinary power to the public.
There are many ways to give to ICP: Donate to the Annual Fund, create a scholarship, sponsor exhibitions and education programs, contribute to the Collection, or make a planned gift.
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About the ICP Infinity Awards
Since 1985, the International Center of Photography has recognized outstanding achievements in photography with its prestigious Infinity Awards. The awards ceremony is also ICP’s primary fundraising benefit, with its revenues assisting the center's various programs.
Harbers Studios commissioned MediaStorm, on behalf of ICP, to create a short film about each of the recipients to screen at the awards ceremony and to display online. The films pay tribute to the contributions of each artist to the craft and field of photography and demonstrate ICP's commitment to them.