Bernd & Hilla Becher: Typologies

The artists’ most immediately recognizable work, the typologies group several photographs of a single category of industrial structure, such as cooling towers or blast furnaces. Presented together in a grid, subtle variations emerge among these homogeneous structures.

Grid of six framed black and white photographs of blast furnaces

Color image of a suite of six black and white photographs of different coal preparation plants

Four framed black and white photographs showing a factory building from various angles.

Bernd & Hilla Becher: Typologies

Bernd & Hilla BecherBlast Furnaces, Perspective View

1979-86

six gelatin silver prints, 22-1/4 x 18 inches (each framed) [56.5 x 45.7 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherCoal Preparation Plants [Processing Plants for Coal] [Aufbreitungsanlange für Kohle]

1966

six gelatin silver prints on original mount, 33 x 29 inches (framed) [83.8 x 50.8 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherBlast Furnaces, Volklingen, Saar District

1986

four gelatin silver prints, 36 x 123 inches (overall installed) [91.4 x 312.4 cm]

Black and white photograph of a water tower amongst residential homes

Bernd & Hilla Becher: Water Towers

Using a precisely positioned large format view camera and working on overcast days, the Bechers created photographs with the uniform, neutral appearance of architectural renderings or scientific records, transforming their subjects into what they called “anonymous sculpture.”

Black and white photograph of a water tower — Bernd & Hilla Becher, Water Tower, Weirton, West Virginia, U.S.A., 1980

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Black and white photograph of a water tower in a grass field near electrical power lines — Bernd & Hilla Becher, Water Tower, Circle City, New Jersey, U.S.A., 1974

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Black and white photograph of a water tower in a grass field — Bernd & Hilla Becher, Water Tower, Toledo, Ohio, USA, 1978

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Black and white photograph of a water tower near a railroad track and residential homes — Bernd & Hilla Becher, Water Tower, Gary, Indiana, U.S.A., 1977

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Black and white photograph of a circular water tower near railroad tracks — Bernd & Hilla Becher, Water Tower, Neville Island, near Pittsburgh, USA, 1980

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Black and white photograph of a water tower near electrical power lines — Bernd & Hilla Becher, Water Tower, St. Jean de Vedas, Herault, F., 1984

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Bernd & Hilla Becher, Water Tower, Crailsheim, Germany, 1980

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

A black and white photograph of a large water tower with the word FINDLAY painted on the facade — Bernd & Hilla Becher, Water Tower, Findlay, Ohio, USA, 1977

gelatin silver print, 23-7/8 x 20-3/8 inches (image & sheet) [60.6 x 51.8 cm]

Black and white photograph of a water tower exterior — Bernd & Hilla Becher, Water Tower, Herve/Liège, Belgium, 1971

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm], edition of 5

Black and white photograph of a water tower amongst railroad tracks — Water Tower, Trier-Ehrang, D, 1982

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Black and white photograph of a water tower among residential homes with larger city on the horizon — Water Tower, Fulda, Germany, 1979

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Black and white photograph of a water tower near railroad tracks — Water Tower, Mannheim, Germany, 1978

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Black and white photograph of a water tower made partially of bricks — Water Tower, Oberhausen/Ruhr, Germany, 1967

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherWater Tower, Weirton, West Virginia, U.S.A.

1980

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherWater Tower, Wauseon, Ohio, U.S.A.

1977

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherWater Tower, Circle City, New Jersey, U.S.A.

1974

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherWater Tower, Toledo, Ohio, USA

1978

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherWater Tower, Gary, Indiana, U.S.A.

1977

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherWater Tower, Carmaux, France

1984

gelatin silver print, 24-5/8 x 20 inches (sheet) [62.2 x 50.8 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherWater Tower, Neville Island, near Pittsburgh, USA

1980

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherWater Tower, St. Jean de Vedas, Herault, F.

1984

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherWater Tower, Crailsheim, Germany

1980

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherWater Tower, Findlay, Ohio, USA

1977

gelatin silver print, 23-7/8 x 20-3/8 inches (image & sheet) [60.6 x 51.8 cm]

Bernd & Hilla BecherWater Tower, Herve/Liège, Belgium

1971

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm], edition of 5

Water Tower, Trier-Ehrang, D

1982

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Water Tower, Fulda, Germany

1979

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Water Tower, Mannheim, Germany

1978

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Water Tower, Oberhausen/Ruhr, Germany

1967

gelatin silver print, 36-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches (framed) [92.71 x 74.29 cm]

Black and white photograph of a house facade

Bernd & Hilla Becher: Framework Houses

The domestic buildings and industrial structures, uniformly composed within the frame, are presented as studies of utilitarian sculpture. As Hilla Becher has said of the couple’s architectural subjects, “They are functional, and they reflect what they do.”