Anno Wilms

Anno Wilms (born in Berlin, 1935 - 2016) graduated from the photography department of the Lette-Verein Berlin in 1957. She worked as a freelance photo journalist, focussing primarily on social minorities and on the performing arts, especially the dazzling Berlin jazz, theatre and dance scene.
Jazz as auratic form of expression from a minority culture with international roots held a great fascination for her. Between the end of the 60s and the later 80s barely any important Berlin Jazz concert escaped her lens. Her images can be considered part of the tradition of Francis Wolff and Ed van der Elsken, whose photos came to define the style of classic jazz photography: individual shots of musicians engrossed in their instruments. Black background, strong contrasts, a flash, and total concentration!
A selection of her photographs taken at Jazzfest Berlin between 1967 and 1993 are featured in this magazine.