Life_Ticker.

Exhibition at the Kunsthalle Erfurt |
November 29, 2026 – February 21, 2027

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Life_Ticker invites you on a journey through 100 years of photography and photojournalism that is as rich as it is fascinating. Since the 1920s, photographs have shaped the way we view the world – disseminated through magazines and mass media, which served both as a foundation for photographers’ work and as a stage for them. The exhibition highlights this close connection by displaying photographs and their publications side by side for the first time, giving them equal prominence. This offers fascinating insights into the journey of images – from the moment they are created to their impact in public spaces.

Some 300 exhibits, organized into ten sections, bring together iconic photographs and their media contexts – from early photojournalism to the present day. The exhibition also highlights how images shape our collective memory and continue to evolve in the digital age.

(Text: Kunsthalle Erfurt)

The Ullstein Photographic Collection – one of the exhibition’s main lenders

The works on display from the Ullstein Photographic Collection are impressive in this exhibition not only for their expressive power and sheer number. They reveal a previously little-known side of the Ullstein Photographic Collection and offer a depth of insight that can confidently be described as a “premiere”. Original photographs and key works that have rarely or never been shown in an exhibition are presented alongside other important exhibits on photojournalism. They all share one essential aspect: their contemporary publication in a relevant medium. At the time they were created, they were all selected for publication, whether as a cover image or as part of a layout spanning multiple pages. Even today, many topics in contemporary history would be hard to imagine without this style of visualization. This is due in no small part to key Ullstein publications such as the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, Tempo, Uhu, and Die Dame. Viewing the photographs in this context offers exhibition visitors insightful glimpses into the history and design of 20th-century media. An exhibition that undoubtedly benefits from the inclusion of works by Ullstein’s top photojournalists.

In the gallery, you can view a selection of original photographs from the ullstein bild collection.