Helga Paris - Diva in Grau

Mitteldeutscher Verlag 2024

Large cities in the east are given poetic names like Spree Athens or Florence on the Elbe. Halle, on the other hand, was called "the gray diva." The origin of this name is probably only known today by those who have the 1991 photo book "Diva in Gray" on their shelves, which quickly sold out and became a cult classic. The photos shown in it from Helga Paris's series "Houses and Faces" from 1983 to 1985 impressively demonstrate how the continuity of decay in the old Saale metropolis also shaped the lives of its residents. Halle was gray, the air heavy, the river murky, and the hustle and bustle on the market square hidden in the thick chemical fumes. But even amidst this gloom, human and everyday moments can be found – when the photographer peers behind the gray facades.
In the year of her death, the illustrated book about the morbid Halle of the 1980s is being reissued. And more than ever, it is a hauntingly beautiful document of the state of East German cities before the end of the GDR.
With texts by Wilhelm Bartsch, Heinz Czechowski, Elke Erb, Jörg Kowalski, Christa Moog, and Detlef Opitz.

128 pp., hardcover, 300 × 270 mm, b/w illustrations, German language

ISBN 978-3-96311-952-1