30.01.2026 – 31.05.2026
Street photography is a term that is widely known today. But it is not a new phenomenon. Its predecessors were the so-called ‘street photographers’ who worked in larger cities and tourist hotspots between around 1927 and 1935. In view of the global economic crisis and the decline in studio commissions, they used busy squares, streets, markets and folk festivals to photograph passers-by at random in a series of three shots. After the photo was taken, the subjects were given a slip of paper with the image number and the note: ‘You have been filmed!’ Anyone who was interested could pick up the photo strips a few days later. In the case of the Graz photographer and street photographer Fritz Taufer, this was possible at ‘J. Koch’s Söhne’ on the main square for 1.50 schillings. Examples of walking film photographs have been preserved to this day in numerous Styrian family albums from the interwar period. They not only document the widespread use of this photographic practice, but also illustrate the importance of these images as personal and family mementos. The exhibition Der Grazer Gehfotograf (The Graz Street Photographer) shows a selection of around 1,200 unclaimed filmstrips from the collection of curator Mila Palm. They shed light on the little-known phenomenon of street photographers, provide a comprehensive insight into everyday life in Graz and offer a unique cross-section of the city’s population in the 1920s and 1930s.
The Graz Street Photographer – A City in Motion 1929–1932
30.01.2026 – 31.05.2026
Museum für Geschichte
Sackstraße 16, 8010 Graz
www.museum-joanneum.at
