You seem to have known each other for a long time.

When Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann spoke at the opening of Helmut Fricke's exhibition on Monday evening, he remembered the arguments about the West runway.

At that time, Feldmann was still a "teen" and Fricke, who is only a few years older than the mayor, was in the thick of things.

But as always: As a photographer, Helmut Fricke, who worked for the FAZ for decades, retired a year and a half ago, but of course continues to work in the profession, was always there - with the great attention and at the same time with the inner distance that gave him the unbiased , original, independent view.

Alphonse Kaiser

Responsible editor for the department "Germany and the World" and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin.

  • Follow I follow

Feldmann had a nice headline ready for the exhibition of the Fricke pictures in the urban space: "What a view!" Not only fashion fans can understand what a view that is, but many passers-by can now see it too, for example in Schillerstrasse: From the outside, through the window of an old shop, you can see two Chanel shows on the walls, one in winter and one in summer, like Alpha and Omega and Ying and Yang.

Also on one screen changing photos of legendary fashion shows in Paris, Milan, London and New York: Iris van Herpen, Dolce and Gabbana, Chanel, Louis Vuitton.

.

.

See more than the event allows

You can follow this largely low-aerosol exhibition at several stations and combine it with a walk through the city centre. The models from Hermès are walking through the huge lobby of the Hilton Hotel - on one picture. In the presidential suite of the Jumeirah Hotel you can see the Frankfurt skyline and a Dior catwalk. And at the Massif Central, the events center in a backyard on Eschersheimer Landstrasse, you are greeted by an atmospheric image of a Poiret parade in Paris.

Feldmann speaks in his little laudatory speech about Fricke's "third eye".

The large-scale photos often show more than the event actually reveals.

Most photographers vying for space at the end of the runway only see the look.

Fricke, who towers above everyone at 1.90 meters – and often armed with a stepladder – is looking for a larger perspective.

Therefore, in the quarter of a century in which he traveled to Paris several times a year, he also conquered his position there: close to the events and yet not so close that he couldn't see the higher meaning for all the models.

Nice that everyone can see it now.