Walter Schels at 90: A Summary of a Life – “16° Fische” Retrospective at C/O Berlin

The Berlin art calendar is preparing for one of the year’s most significant retrospectives. In collaboration with the F.C. Gundlach Foundation, C/O Berlin will host a comprehensive exhibition honouring the 90th birthday of Walter Schels (b. 1936), one of the monumental figures of German photography. Titled “16° Fische”, this exhibition is the artist’s first major retrospective in Berlin, featuring 250 works selected from an examination of over 10,000 original prints. Open to visitors from 20 June to 2 September 2026, the selection offers a deep exploration of Schels’ artistic practice, which for more than sixty years has pushed the boundaries of human existence, confronted taboos, and questioned the concept of identity.

Existence and Transformation: Between Documentary and Fine Art

Walter Schels’ visual language goes far beyond mere documentation, proving that photography is an “ontological” tool of discovery. In his works focused on identity, transformation, and extreme experiences, the artist steps outside traditional patterns and experiments with the material itself. The works in the exhibition combine portraits, experimental photographs, and plant images created through chemical interventions, presenting the formal structures and processes of life to the viewer.

The thematic backbone of the exhibition is formed by Schels’ most shattering series:

Identities in Transition: Portraits of famous and unknown figures, alongside the transformation of young people evolving from childhood to adulthood.

The Boundary of Life (Death): One of the artist’s most famous works — portraits that capture the final expressions on the faces of dying individuals and boldly confront the taboo of death.

Animals and Plants: Works that question the spiritual depth of non-human beings, and depictions of flora manipulated with chemical painting techniques.

From Archive to Present: A Methodological View

The exhibition does not merely present finished works; it also offers unique insights into the artist’s working methods. Early works and biographical pieces drawn from his archive shed light on the process from an image’s physical journey on paper to its transformation in chemical baths. Curated by Sophia Greiff, Beate Lakotta, Sebastian Lux, and Franziska Mecklenburg, “16° Fische” stands as a monument that documents not how a photographer “sees” the world, but how he “feels” the world and the human being.

Exhibition Information

Venue: C/O Berlin (Hardenbergstraße 22–24, 10623 Berlin)

Artist: Walter Schels

Exhibition Title: 16° Fische

Dates: 20 June – 2 September 2026

In collaboration with: Stiftung F. C. Gundlach