{"id":18725,"date":"2025-04-04T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/?p=18725"},"modified":"2025-04-10T14:14:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T14:14:31","slug":"the-photography-of-jorg-langowski-emblgr50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/blog\/2025\/04\/the-photography-of-jorg-langowski-emblgr50\/","title":{"rendered":"The Photography of J\u00f6rg Langowski #EMBLGR50"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In honour of EMBL Grenoble’s 50th anniversary, we’d like to share some of J\u00f6rg Langowski’s photography which beautifully captures the near-decade he spent at EMBL Grenoble. These images were transferred to the archive as part of our collection drive last year.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

J\u00f6rg Langowski was born in Husum, northern Germany, and studied biochemistry at the university of Hanover before heading to Seattle for his PhD thesis and postdoctoral training, where he worked on protein-DNA interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the years following his studies he became interested in biophysics, an interest which led him to a role at EMBL Grenoble, whose focus on structural biology gave him the opportunity to use biophysics and modelling approaches to understand chromatin conformational dynamics and DNA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
EMBL Grenoble’s light-scattering setup. Credit: J\u00f6rg Langowski – From the EMBL Archive (DE 2324 COM-A-25).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Stephen Cusack, head of EMBL Grenoble. Credit: J\u00f6rg Langowski – From the EMBL Archive (DE 2324 COM-A-25).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

J\u00f6rg spent the next 9 years at EMBL, first as a scientific staff member, and later serving as a Group Leader. In 1994, he was appointed Professor at the University of Heidelberg and Head of the Biophysics of Macromolecules Division at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His research encompassed diverse aspects of DNA and chromatin dynamics, employing a combination of light scattering, neutron scattering, fluorescence microscopy, and molecular modelling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Langowski passed away in 2017 at the age of 61, less than a month after a chromatin meeting he organised with fellow scientist Tamar Schlick. Schlick writes<\/a>: “There J\u00f6rg was the center of the meeting, encouraging and advising the young people, talking with everyone, and arranging skiing activities during the free afternoons and the weekend following the meeting.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
EMBL Grenoble Group Leader Wim Burmeister hard at work on a 3d Graphics Screen. Credit: J\u00f6rg Langowski – From the EMBL Archive (DE 2324 COM-A-25).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
EMBL Grenoble staff share a meal. Credit: J\u00f6rg Langowski – From the EMBL Archive (DE 2324 COM-A-25).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of his time at EMBL Grenoble, J\u00f6rg comprehensively captured what life at the site was like. His photographs cover social events, his scientific work, and the frequent collaborations between EMBL and the other scientific organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his obituary for Langowski (in which he is photographed with the camera with which he probably took these pictures), EMBL colleague Christoph M\u00fcller writes<\/a>: \u201cHe maintained a large network of local, national and international scientific collaborators and friends\u201d, and maintained a deep affection for EMBL long after he had left the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Carriages await participants in one of many workshops EMBL Grenoble organised in collaboration with our EMBO colleagues. Credit: J\u00f6rg Langowski – From the EMBL Archive (DE 2324 COM-A-25).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Celebrating history being made with collagues at the ILL. Credit: J\u00f6rg Langowski – From the EMBL Archive (DE 2324 COM-A-25).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, the EMBL archive engaged in a collection drive to mark EMBL’s 50th anniversary. The communications team at EMBL Grenoble kindly transferred almost 1000 images which document the history of the site, and 27 of Langowski’s photographs were amongst them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering the impact J\u00f6rg Langowski had on EMBL’s history and community, we feel a deep responsibility to ensure they are preserved for the future, and that they are made available to the public, and are pleased to do so now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
J\u00f6rg Langowski at EMBL Grenoble. From the EMBL Archive (DE 2324 COM-A-19)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

See more of J\u00f6rg Langowski’s photographs here<\/a>.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you would like to secure your EMBL Legacy – contact<\/a> the Archive!<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In honour of EMBL Grenoble’s 50th anniversary, we’d like to share some of J\u00f6rg Langowski’s photography which beautifully captures the near-decade he spent at EMBL Grenoble. These images were transferred to the archive as part of our collection drive last year. J\u00f6rg Langowski was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7894,10747,10739,10745,8472],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-18725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-archive","tag-embl","tag-embl-grenoble","tag-emblgr50","tag-history"],"acf":[],"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18725"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19561,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18725\/revisions\/19561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18725"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=18725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}