Berlin-London: The Lost Photographs of Gerty Simon

Gerty Simon; the woman that almost slipped through the gaps of art history. In 2019, Gerty was celebrated for her remarkable photography of the most prominent figures of the 1930s and we were behind all of its graphics.

After a recent discovery of photos from Weimar-era Berlin and 1930s London we were set on building Gerty an identity that made people question how she was not on their idol list.

Simplicity and style
In a darkroom in the 1930s Gerty Simons hung a print of Albert Einstein on a line to dry. Deeply inspired by her story we wanted to share this vision with our audience. Set against a neutral coloured backdrop, we laid out Gerty’s photos on a line with pegs and displayed her prints as they would have appeared in her room 90 years before.

A contemporary experience
Having taken numerous photos of big Social Democratic and anti-fascist personalities in Berlin, the Jewish photographer faced grave danger under the Nazi regime. We pooled together stories and portraits to put across her powerful story and in doing so developed a visually rich experience.