About the Artist
Explore life events- Alternate Name(s) Dephot (Deutsche Photo-Agentur) (Studio Name)
Meeting Points
- Cultural Hubs Berlin
- Photo Industry Hubs Berlin
- Schools Bauhaus, 1919–33 Levy Gallery, 1931–49
- Exhibitions Film und Foto, 1929 Foto der Gegenwart, 1929
- Publications Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, 1917–31 Novyi lef, 1927–28 Foto-Auge, 1929 Es kommt der neue Fotograf!, 1929
Artist Chronology
January 18, 1902 |
Born
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Dusseldorf |
Summer–October 1920 |
Leaves school to practice art, causing a break with his family
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Essen |
Fall 1921–December 1922 |
Studies at the Bauhaus with Johannes Itten, Oskar Schlemmer, Paul Klee, and Vasily Kandinsky
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Weimar |
Fall 1923–March 1943 |
Lives in Berlin
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Berlin |
Fall 1923–late 1924 |
Establishes the Werkstatten bildender Kunst GmbH with Bauhaus colleagues
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Berlin |
1926 |
Makes photomontages for Walter Ruttmann's film Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Grosstadt
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Berlin |
Late 1926 |
Working with Paul Citroen, Umbo creates his first photographs
At location: Paul Citroen, Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Berlin |
1927 |
Publishes photographs in Der Querschnitt, Uhu, and Weltmagazin
Contributor: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Berlin |
1927 |
Adopts the pseudonym "Umbo"
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Berlin |
1928 |
Umbo sends six photographs to Rodchenko for Novy Lef; two photograms are published
At location: Aleksandr Rodchenko
Contributor: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Moscow |
1928 |
Cofounds Deutsche Photo-Agentur (DEPHOT) with Simon Guttmann
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Berlin |
February 12–March 5, 1928 |
Foto – Malerei – Architektur at Kunstschule Johannes Itten
|
Berlin |
March 25–May 6, 1928 |
Neue Wege der Photographie at Kunstverein Jena
|
Jena |
Late 1928–1930 |
Teaches at Kunstschule Johannes Itten
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Berlin |
1929 |
Franz Roh publishes Foto-Auge: 76 Fotos der Zeit
Contributor: Herbert Bayer, Max Burchartz, Florence Henri, El Lissitzky, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Walter A. Peterhans, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Maurice Tabard, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Edward Weston, Franz Roh, Semyon Fridlyand, Robert Petschow, Sasha Stone, Dziga Vertov, Hans Finsler, Paul Edmund Hahn, J. Jay Hirz
|
Stuttgart |
1929 |
Werner Graeff publishes Es kommt der neue Fotograf!
|
Berlin |
January 20–February 17, 1929 |
Fotografie der Gegenwart at Museum Folkwang
Kestner Gesellschaft v.V, Königstrasse 8, Hannover Galerie Neumann-Nierendorf, Lützowstrasse 32, Berlin Whitechapel Art Gallery, London Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt Leipziger Kunstverein, Augustusplatz 6, Leipzig Lichthof des Neuen Rathauses, Dresden Kunstverein, Rostock am Adolf-Mittag-See, Städtisches Ausstellungsamt, Magdeburg Landesgewerbeanstalt, Kaiserslautern Vereinigung Göttinger Kunstfreunde, Göttingen
Participant: Berenice Abbott, Herbert Bayer, Aenne Biermann, Max Burchartz, Florence Henri, Lotte Jacobi, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, El Lissitzky, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Walter A. Peterhans, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Hans Richter, August Sander, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Lucia Moholy, Karl Blossfeldt, Erich Comeriner, Eli Lotar, Oskar Nerlinger, Robert Petschow, Frieda Gertrud Riess, Sasha Stone, Hans Finsler, Paul Edmund Hahn, Cami Stone
|
Essen |
May 18–July 7, 1929 |
Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto (FiFo) at Städtische Ausstellungshallen
Kunstgewerbemuseum, Zurich Im Lichthof des Ehemaligen Kunstgewerbemuseums, Prinz-Albrechs-Strasse 7, Berlin Stadtmuseum, Danzig Österreichisches Museum, Vienna Agram, Zagreb Münchner Bund/Verein Ausstellungspark München E.V. (as part of Internationale Ausstellung. Das Lichtbild), Munich Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, Osaka
Participant: Berenice Abbott, Herbert Bayer, Aenne Biermann, Anton Bruehl, Francis Bruguière, Max Burchartz, Florence Henri, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, Helmar Lerski, El Lissitzky, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Walter A. Peterhans, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Hans Richter, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Charles Sheeler, Edward Steichen, Maurice Tabard, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Edward Weston, Lucia Moholy, Werner Rohde, George Hoyningen-Huene, Gustav Klutsis, Karl Blossfeldt, Heinz Loew, Erich Comeriner, Semyon Fridlyand, Roman Karmen, Eli Lotar, Oskar Nerlinger, Robert Petschow, Sasha Stone, Dziga Vertov, Yva (Else Simon), Willy Zielke, Irene Bayer-Hecht, Hans Finsler, Cami Stone
Organizer: El Lissitzky, László Moholy-Nagy, Hans Richter, Edward Steichen, Edward Weston, Dziga Vertov
Visitor: Alexander Hackenschmied
|
Stuttgart |
June–September 1930 |
Das Lichtbild exhibition
Participant: Aenne Biermann, Bill Brandt, Max Burchartz, César Domela-Nieuwenhuis, Florence Henri, Lotte Jacobi, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, Helmar Lerski, Walter A. Peterhans, August Sander, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Edward Weston, Lucia Moholy, Werner Rohde, Franz Roh, Marianne Breslauer, Alexander Hackenschmied, Edmund Kesting, Jean Moral, Willy Zielke, Lore Feininger, Hans Finsler
|
Munich |
1932 |
Fotografien von Albert Renger-Patzsch, Umbo, Hugo Erfurth und Helmar Lerski at the St. Annen Museum
|
Lübeck |
January 9–29, 1932 |
Surrealism at the Julien Levy Gallery
|
New York |
February 20–March 11, 1932 |
Modern European Photography at the Julien Levy Gallery
|
New York |
Fall 1932–November 1933 |
DEPHOT restructured and downsized as DEGEPHOT
Simon Guttmann and Umbo use the agency to cover resistance activities when Hitler comes to power. The regime discovers their intentions and shuts down the agency.
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Berlin |
May 27–November 12, 1933 |
Century of Progress International Photographic Salon at the Chicago Camera Club
Korth is the official photographer of the exposition.
|
Chicago |
November 7–19, 1933 |
Die Kamera. Ausstellung für Fotografie, Druck und Reproduktion at the exhibition halls of the radio tower
Participant: Walter A. Peterhans, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Werner Rohde, Willy Zielke
|
Berlin |
1938–39 |
Contracts with Ullstein Verlag; works primarily for Der Stern
Contributor: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Berlin |
March 1943–1945 |
Recruited and serves as a photographer
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
The Hague |
August 1943 |
A bombing raid destroys his archive of negatives and prints
Affiliated: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Berlin |
1945–80 |
Lives in Hannover
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Hannover |
1947–50 |
Works as a photographer for Der Spiegel
Contributor: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Hamburg |
May 13, 1980 |
Dies
At location: Umbo (Otto Umbehr)
|
Hannover |