The Budge Home through a Leica
Photographs by Ilse Bing
View of the south facade of the Budge Foundation Old People’s Home, Frankfurt, Germany, 1930. PH1984:0288:002
Residents on the balconies, 1930. PH1984:0288:005
Glass partitions on the balconies, 1930. PH1984:0288:007
West courtyard, 1930. PH1984:0288:009
West courtyard through glass doors, 1930. PH1984:0288:012
Stairwell in the south wing, 1930. PH1984:0288:018
Main entrance and employees’ building, 1930. PH1984:0288:020
Entrance hall, stairs, and reading room, 1930. PH1984:0288:030
Porter’s room, 1930. PH1984:0288:028
Entrance hall, 1930. PH1984:0288:034
Reading room (unfurnished), 1930. PH1984:0288:039
First floor pantry with silhouette of Ilse Bing, 1930. PH1984:0288:040
Dining hall, 1930. PH1984:0288:044
Mart Stam closing a window shade, 1930. PH1984:0288:047
Metal door handle and lock, 1930. PH1984:0288:059
Ceiling fixture, 1930. PH1984:0288:060
Corridor with mailboxes and a clock through a glass partition wall, 1930. PH1984:0288:063
In 1929, Ilse Bing bought a Leica camera and started a photographic career that took her from Frankfurt to New York via Paris. Working first for magazines as a photojournalist, she was soon running her own studio. While still in Frankfurt, she was commissioned by architect and urban planner Mart Stam to undertake a photographic survey of the modern buildings that were being erected in the city, including the Henry and Emma Budge-Heim building. Built according to Bauhaus precepts, with shared spaces and 106 rooms with personal terraces, the project set a precedent for many future construction projects for the elderly.
The light, versatile Leica eliminated the need for a tripod and made it easy for Bing to discover different and unusual perspectives in documenting the project, including high vantage points and close ups. In some cases she reveals her shadow or reflection in glass surfaces.
Our collection holds an album of sixty-eight photos of the Budge Foundation home by Bing, many of which were shown in the 2013 exhibition H-BLOCK Social Housing: Ilse Bing.
