Information about this website
I have been photographing since my school days and worked part-time during my studies for two Berlin photo agencies. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the subsequent urban transformations in the German capital, excursions to the new federal states, and numerous journeys offered fascinating subjects. Visually, the former GDR remained very present in rural regions for several years after reunification. To this day, I continue to discover interesting themes.
In 1993, I rescued a stack of negatives from the Klinikum Berlin-Buch from being thrown into a trash container. As part of the dismantling of GDR institutions, the hospital’s equipment and furniture were completely disposed of. The staff had already been laid off. Acting on a tip, I was able to go there just in time and rescue several folders of negatives from a laboratory that would otherwise have ended up in a waste container. With this find, I began collecting photographic estates. Some photographers from my circle of acquaintances contributed image series. My father Hans-Hermann Gade entrusted me in 1999 with his photographs from a three-year stay (1967–1969) in Chile. He himself created the captions for his Chile photographs on the computer.
On eBay and elsewhere, photographic estates were frequently offered for sale, which I either purchased or received as gifts from the heirs. In 2003, I acquired over 30 banana boxes filled with slides and negatives from the estate of Hellmut Münzner, who photographed extensively and traveled to many countries around the world. A few years later, I received another twelve full banana boxes of his photographs. Presumably, an equally large quantity was sold off in small lots or ended up in the trash.
Many further collections or complete estates followed, sometimes reaching me under adventurous circumstances. The transfer of inherited image rights could often only be clarified retrospectively.
In 2017, I received the medium-format negatives of the late Richard Kitschigin, once an important staff member at RIAS Berlin (Radio in the American Sector), who before that had worked journalistically for various magazines.
Gradually, these images were incorporated into the website medienarchiv.com, which has effectively become a permanent exhibition on the Internet. The portfolios of living authors and various photographic estates are intended to remain accessible. The image collection is occasionally expanded or updated. See: Authors
The photographs originate from various authors. Use by third parties is subject to the restrictions imposed by copyright law. Any use of the works on this website by third parties requires prior written consent from the respective rights holder.
It is at my discretion, or that of other rights holders, whether we wish to license the use of the images. If you are interested, please contact me at info@medienarchiv.com or call me. The phone number can be found in the imprint.
Photographic Estates and Personal Photographs
© Thomas Gade| Page | 1 Online Photo Archive |
| 2 Conventional HTML pages or dynamic image databases? | |
| 3 Photographic estates and my own photographs |
I have been photographing since my school days and worked part-time during my studies for two Berlin photo agencies. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the subsequent urban transformations in the German capital, excursions to the new federal states, and numerous journeys offered fascinating subjects. Visually, the former GDR remained very present in rural regions for several years after reunification. To this day, I continue to discover interesting themes.
In 1993, I rescued a stack of negatives from the Klinikum Berlin-Buch from being thrown into a trash container. As part of the dismantling of GDR institutions, the hospital’s equipment and furniture were completely disposed of. The staff had already been laid off. Acting on a tip, I was able to go there just in time and rescue several folders of negatives from a laboratory that would otherwise have ended up in a waste container. With this find, I began collecting photographic estates. Some photographers from my circle of acquaintances contributed image series. My father Hans-Hermann Gade entrusted me in 1999 with his photographs from a three-year stay (1967–1969) in Chile. He himself created the captions for his Chile photographs on the computer.
On eBay and elsewhere, photographic estates were frequently offered for sale, which I either purchased or received as gifts from the heirs. In 2003, I acquired over 30 banana boxes filled with slides and negatives from the estate of Hellmut Münzner, who photographed extensively and traveled to many countries around the world. A few years later, I received another twelve full banana boxes of his photographs. Presumably, an equally large quantity was sold off in small lots or ended up in the trash.
Many further collections or complete estates followed, sometimes reaching me under adventurous circumstances. The transfer of inherited image rights could often only be clarified retrospectively.
In 2017, I received the medium-format negatives of the late Richard Kitschigin, once an important staff member at RIAS Berlin (Radio in the American Sector), who before that had worked journalistically for various magazines.
Gradually, these images were incorporated into the website medienarchiv.com, which has effectively become a permanent exhibition on the Internet. The portfolios of living authors and various photographic estates are intended to remain accessible. The image collection is occasionally expanded or updated. See: Authors
Copyright
Even though the existence of this website has long since ceased to be driven by economic goals, this does not mean that you may use these images without prior written permission. The use of photographs and texts is generally subject to a fee, as preserving and cataloguing photographs is very expensive and time-consuming. It should therefore be self-evident that anyone making use of them contributes to these costs. Requests for free use, regardless of the reason, are generally not answered at all.The photographs originate from various authors. Use by third parties is subject to the restrictions imposed by copyright law. Any use of the works on this website by third parties requires prior written consent from the respective rights holder.
It is at my discretion, or that of other rights holders, whether we wish to license the use of the images. If you are interested, please contact me at info@medienarchiv.com or call me. The phone number can be found in the imprint.
| Page | 1 Online Photo Archive |
| 2 Conventional HTML pages or dynamic image databases? | |
| 3 Photographic estates and my own photographs |
The content on this website was originally written in German. Only later were longer articles
translated into English to reach a more global audience. Hopefully, the supporting AI didn’t
introduce too many errors in the process. For pages that primarily showcase images, however,
the additional effort of creating duplicate versions in two languages is hardly worthwhile.