English translation: Romy Schneider and Harry Meyen strolling along Straße des 17. Juni in Berlin-Tiergarten, in front of the Victory Column and toward the Brandenburg Gate, in late April 1965. Both are elegantly dressed, Schneider wearing a coat and gloves, Meyen a suit and sunglasses. Schneider laughs heartily as they walk side by side across the sidewalk.
German based photo library United Archives has acquired the Sven Simon Photo Archive which includes many unseen photographs of the Federal Republic era – commonly known as West Germany from 1949 to 1990.
Photographer Axel Springer Jr., better known as Sven Simon, was the most significant photographer of the Federal Republic of Germany and left behind an extraordinary photographic legacy despite his early death – one that captures the history of West Germany as vividly as few others.
United Archives is now making works accessible that have so far received little public attention: both iconic and previously unknown motifs, intimate insights into the lives of celebrities, quiet observations of historic events—a multifaceted and ambivalent view of the Federal Republic.
Work has already started on the archive uploading 1600 scans online in the first week with an expected 50,000 to be edited and uploaded in total.
United Archives told PAN: ‘Sven’s photographs of politics, sports, and culture reveal more than just the obvious: they capture the essential, allowing subtleties to emerge—whether at the 1972 Olympic Games, for which Simon held exclusive image rights, or in portraits of both renowned and forgotten figures. His images are sharply observed, intimately close, and often deeply personal.’