Creation of the IMAGO Camera
In 1970, physicist and scientific researcher Werner Kraus was given an unusual assignment: to photographically document combustion in the Wankel engine for Daimler-Benz. He responded by developing an extremely fast lens that could faithfully reproduce the process on a 1:1 scale. He immediately recognised the artistic potential of this unique optical system. Together with sculptor Erhard Hößle, he starts an unprecedented project that combines science, art, craftsmanship and spectacular self-experience: they build the IMAGO Camera, the only walk-in large-format camera in the world that produces life-size direct-exposure images.
Influenced by the Fluxus and Happening Art of the 1970s, Kraus and Hößle have created an interactive work of art with the IMAGO Camera that lures the viewer out of their passive corner and makes them part of the artistic process themselves. A unique photographic experience that combines art, craftsmanship, science and spectacular self-staging. And a medium whose importance is still growing today, because its session character is at odds with the ego hegemony of the digitalized world.
In 1972, the IMAGO Camera was inaugurated in Munich and presented in numerous exhibitions until 1978, including Photokina Cologne, Haus der Kunst Munich, World Exhibition of Photography Nuremberg.
Influenced by the Fluxus and Happening Art of the 1970s, Kraus and Hößle have created an interactive work of art with the IMAGO Camera that lures the viewer out of their passive corner and makes them part of the artistic process themselves. A unique photographic experience that combines art, craftsmanship, science and spectacular self-staging. And a medium whose importance is still growing today, because its session character is at odds with the ego hegemony of the digitalized world.
In 1972, the IMAGO Camera was inaugurated in Munich and presented in numerous exhibitions until 1978, including Photokina Cologne, Haus der Kunst Munich, World Exhibition of Photography Nuremberg.
The inventors of the IMAGO Camera, physicist Werner Kraus (r.) and artist Erhard Hößle (l.), Haus der Kunst, Munich 1974
Werner Kraus sets up the lens of the IMAGO Camera, in the foreground the IMAGOgram from Kraus and Hößle
© Annegret Kohlmayer
REVIVAL
In 2005, Susanna Kraus, daughter of Werner Kraus, retrieves the IMAGO Camera from the Neue Sammlung of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and puts it back into operation. The IMAGO Camera found its home in Berlin, travelled around the world for
festivals and exhibitions and became an integral part of the European art and photography scene. In 2013, a mobile version of the camera is added to the IMAGO world: the IMAGO:Fotour.
The IMAGO Camera has been in numerous exhibitions, including in: Haus der Kunst Munich, World Exhibition of Photography Nuremberg, Photokina Cologne, Pinakothek der Moderne, Neue Sammlung Munich, ZKM Karlsruhe, Rotterdam, Shanghai. In 2025, following the death of Susanna Kraus, the IMAGO Camera is available to be acquired for the first time since its development. More information and inquiries via kraus@imagocamera.com
The IMAGO Camera has been in numerous exhibitions, including in: Haus der Kunst Munich, World Exhibition of Photography Nuremberg, Photokina Cologne, Pinakothek der Moderne, Neue Sammlung Munich, ZKM Karlsruhe, Rotterdam, Shanghai. In 2025, following the death of Susanna Kraus, the IMAGO Camera is available to be acquired for the first time since its development. More information and inquiries via kraus@imagocamera.com
“…The large format arises from the longing for the ‘perfect fidelity of reproduction’, the true promise of photography: Lifesize! Because without life-size, there is no true depiction of life…”
PETER WEIBEL
CHRONOLOGY
PRESS
FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS
Without the support of certain people and companies, the reactivation of the camera would not have been possible. For their never-ending passion and love for IMAGO, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks with a “Light on all your ways!” to the following people and companies:
| Ilford Switzerland | HARMAN Technology UK, Mr. David Peter Jones, Ex CEO of Ilford Swiss & UK | Dr. Gisela Kaiser, Munich | Annegret Kohlmayer, Vienna – Photokina/Messe, Cologne | Die Photoautomaten, Berlin | Lomographische Gesellschaft Wien | Thomas Schenck (SM Filmdienst) | Florian Hufnagel (Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich) | Peter Weibel (ZKM Karlsruhe) | Dieter Rehm (Akademie der Künste) | Andreas Velten, Berlin | Floris Neusüß, Kassel, Stefan und Lisa Boerger (Delicut) | Christoph Kardinal Schönborn, Vienna | Monat der Fotografie Wien, Thomas Liecek – Technisches Museum Wien | Gottfried und Gerda Haberer | Die Wiener & Münchner Truppe der Anfangsstunde, Elena Capra, Florian Peljak und Jakob Berr | Severin Matusek | Christoph Santner von RealMakers, Vienna | Erika Borbély-Hansen, Frederic Thywissen, Berlin | Yasmine Benhadj-Djilali/YBDD, Architektur Kunstraum | Vertrieb Fotopapier DPP Hans O.Mahn GmbH, Maco Photoproducts | Miriam Bers, Bers Art Consulting, Go Art Berlin |
| Ilford Switzerland | HARMAN Technology UK, Mr. David Peter Jones, Ex CEO of Ilford Swiss & UK | Dr. Gisela Kaiser, Munich | Annegret Kohlmayer, Vienna – Photokina/Messe, Cologne | Die Photoautomaten, Berlin | Lomographische Gesellschaft Wien | Thomas Schenck (SM Filmdienst) | Florian Hufnagel (Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich) | Peter Weibel (ZKM Karlsruhe) | Dieter Rehm (Akademie der Künste) | Andreas Velten, Berlin | Floris Neusüß, Kassel, Stefan und Lisa Boerger (Delicut) | Christoph Kardinal Schönborn, Vienna | Monat der Fotografie Wien, Thomas Liecek – Technisches Museum Wien | Gottfried und Gerda Haberer | Die Wiener & Münchner Truppe der Anfangsstunde, Elena Capra, Florian Peljak und Jakob Berr | Severin Matusek | Christoph Santner von RealMakers, Vienna | Erika Borbély-Hansen, Frederic Thywissen, Berlin | Yasmine Benhadj-Djilali/YBDD, Architektur Kunstraum | Vertrieb Fotopapier DPP Hans O.Mahn GmbH, Maco Photoproducts | Miriam Bers, Bers Art Consulting, Go Art Berlin |