7 October 1989 - like everywhere else in the country, Leipzig celebrates the 40th anniversary of the founding of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). But more and more people are gathering in the city to protest against the regime of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Martin Jehnichen, a student from West Germany, is right in the middle of it. He secretly photographs the brutal action taken by the state against the demonstrators. The photos, "shot from the hip", are partly blurred and therefore emphasise the dramatic nature of the events.
Like so many participants, Martin Jehnichen is arrested, but quickly released and expelled from the country. He is lucky because of his West German citizenship. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he returns - to stay. At the end of 1989, he founds the photo agency "transit" in Leipzig with fellow campaigners.
To mark the 35th anniversary of the Friedliche Revolution, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany in 2024/2025, we are presenting photographic works by Martin Jehnichen from 1988 to 1990 in our new exhibition.
The pictures reflect everyday life and signs of decay in the socialist state of the GDR, rebellion in the autumn of 1989 and the phenomena of upheaval in 1990 from the perspective of a young West German photographer.
As a child, Martin Jehnichen (born in 1962) often spent his holidays with his grandparents in Freiberg, Saxony. In 1988, now a student of photo design and visual communication in Bielefeld, he takes the opportunity to spend a semester in Leipzig. Despite the family ties, the study visit is a journey into a foreign world for him. On the one hand, his photos show empathy and sympathy for the country and its people; on the other, they bear witness to the "view from the outside" of classic reportage photography, which reveals peculiarities and contradictions.
Now a member of the laif agency for photography and reportage, Martin Jehnichen still works as a photographer and in visual communications.
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