The German Consulate General is pleased to present the photo exhibition NOBEL HEROES – Nobel Laureates photographed by Peter Badge in cooperation with the Foundation Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings.
There is an extraordinary benefit that comes from Peter Badge’s approach to portraying Nobel Laureates. It is quite natural to think of them as people inhabiting another universe than our own. But here, with Peter Badge, we get something quite different, although no less powerful. We get simplicity, we get curiosity, we get respect for their integrity, and there is mystery as well.
In 2000, Peter Badge embarked on a long-term project to photograph every living Nobel Laureate. Commissioned by the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings originally in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., as well as the Deutsches Museum and ever since co-funded by the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, this project has taken Badge across the globe, to the laureates’ homes, labs and working places as well as holiday destinations.
Peter Badge was born in 1974 and studied art history in Berlin. He initially worked as a freelance photographer for various magazines and soon began developing his own projects. With portraiture as his primary focus, Badge has photographed artists, scientists and politicians to create photographic series such as “Men on the Moon – From Armstrong to Aldrin”, “Icons of Economy” and “Philanthropists”.
The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings
Lindau and Mainau, two beautiful islands in Lake Constance both with rich traditions and breathtaking panorama, welcome every year in summer 30-40 Nobel Laureates and 600 young scientist from all over the world. The special atmosphere of the Lindau Nobel Laure Meetings is called the “Lindau Spirit” – due to the unique combination of scientifically focused and at the same time relaxed exchange.
Since their beginnings in 1951, the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings foster the dialogue between scientists of different generations, cultures, and disciplines. The meetings are devoted alternately to physics, chemistry and medicine or physiology. Every third year, an additional Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences takes place.
The meetings would be inconceivable without the commitment of the Bernadotte family. Count Lennart Bernadotte, a member of the Swedish Royal Family and owner of Mainau Island, whose grandfather, later King Gustav V of Sweden, presented the first Nobel Prizes in 1901, paved the way for the success. Today, his daughter, Countess Bettina Bernadotte, as President of the Council, welcomes the guests in Lindau and on Mainau Island.
Location & Time:
German House, 871 UN Plaza, 10017 New York
The exhibition will be on display from now on until November 30 2022. You can visit it weekdays between 9AM and 4 PM. Please be aware that there are security measurements for entering the building (photo ID needed).