Karlheinz Weinberger: Mediterraneo Volume 3

 The photographs presented in this volume carry a special status in the extensive oeuvre of Karlheinz Weinberger. To this day, Weinberger is best known for his photographs of the Halbstarke and of Rockers, as well as for his nudes. A different aspect of Weinberger’s work was already highlighted in the previous volume on Sports, showcasing photographs of wrestlers, football players, gymnasts, and body builders. This volume offers just as exciting a discovery, assembling the photographs that he took on several trips to the Mediterranean. A few of them are well known–such as the picture of the Esso man, which has reached cult status–but most have never been published before the release of this book. 

Many of the photographs shown were shot in and around Agrigento (Palma di Montechiaro, San Leone). Over the years, Weinberger expanded his travels to include the Lipari Islands and Lampedusa, Lecce and Naples. Twice he visited the other side of the Mediterranean Basin: he went to Tangier in 1963 and 1964.

His interest was not limited to men and their physiques, however. He also documented the traditional life of the South, in the cities and the country-side, at the ports and the beaches, often imbuing these subjects with a filmic quality reminiscent of Visconti’s La Terra Trema (1948) and Pasolini’s Accattone (1961).