With the House of Photography in the southern Deichtorhallen building, in 2005 Hamburg received an elegant exhibition space with two large photographic collections of a high international level.
The House of Photography was conceived decisively by Prof. F. C. Gundlach - founding director and artistic director of the House of Photography from 2003 to 2005 - who also curated the opening exhibition "Martin Munkácsi: Think While You Shoot! in 2005". The conversion of the southern Deichtorhalle into the House of Photography was carried out in 2004/2005 by the Hamburg architect Jan Störmer. The House of Photography has the collection F. C. Gundlach - a collection of world renown in the fields of fashion photography and artistic photography.
On 1 October 2009, the new director of the Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Dr. Dirk Luckow, took over the exhibition programme and artistic direction. He is supported by the House of Photography as curator Ingo Taubhorn and as collection curator Dr. Sabine Schnakenberg.
The Haus der Photographie also offers a wide range of activities beyond the exhibitions: An auditorium and the library are available to interested visitors; the specialist bookshop for photography and art and the bistro restaurant "Fillet of Soul" are also accessible outside the opening hours of the exhibitions. There is also cooperation with the SPIEGEL-Verlag via the SPIEGEL Archive.
