The collection was acquired over a decade from 2000 and reveals the individual taste and sensibility of one collector – reflecting their personal interest in history and visual storytelling.  The works were acquired over time and illustrate the invaluable relationship between collector and gallery, fundamentally based on trust and taste.  It maps the journey of a visitor to HackelBury in 2000, using a work bonus to purchase their first photograph El Malpais, May, 1997 by David Michael Kennedy. This purchase, together with the encouragement and guidance of the gallery owners Sascha Hackel and Marcus Bury, became the genesis for the beginning of a collection.

Harnessing HackelBury’s extensive knowledge of photography and the ability to identify important and representative works, the collector went on to acquire major works by iconic figures. These artists included Berenice Abbott, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliot Erwitt, Frank Horvat, William Klein, Irving Penn, Sebastian Salgado and Doug and Mike Starn. This diverse and groundbreaking group of photographers dedicated their careers to capturing the essence of the people, places, time and history which inspired them.

Seydou Keita and Malick Sidibe provide us with a glimpse of the social and cultural backdrop of their home country Mali in works such as Untitled – Lovely Daughter, 1949/51 by Seydou Keita and Christmas Eve, 1963 by Malick Sidibe. Famed for their studio portraits they brought to life a world, little known in the West at the time. David Michael Kennedy is famous for his portraits of musicians, native Americans and expansive landscapes whilst Alexandre Vitkine chose to photograph industrial landscapes and explore the tension between man and machinery.

Irving Penn, Elliott Erwitt, William Klein, Arnold Newman and Frank Horvat are fascinated by people and their portraits of leading figures and the fashion world draw us into a world of glamour and mystique. Illustrated by works such as Hat with Five Roses, Barbara Mullen, Paris, 1956 by Klein, Irving Penn’s Cecil Beaton, 1958, Arnold Newman’s Igor Stravinsky, New York City, 1946 and Elliott Erwitt’s Marilyn Monroe, New York, 1956.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastiao Salgado and Berenice Abbott are documentary photographers interested in the plight of people, moments in time or historical events reflected in works such as Behind the Gare St. Lazare, 1932 by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Exchange Place, New York, 1934 by Berenice Abbott and Dinka Man, 2006 by Sebastiao Salgado.

Doug and Mike Starn and Liz Rideal choose more abstract still-life images using material objects to evoke thoughts and ideas.

Doug and Mike Starn and Liz Rideal choose more abstract still-life images using material objects to evoke thoughts and ideas.