{"id":258,"date":"2014-07-01T05:00:29","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T03:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.embl.de\/?p=258"},"modified":"2020-03-24T14:30:55","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T13:30:55","slug":"dna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/","title":{"rendered":"In our DNA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Hamann, whose work has taken him to more than 70 countries around the world, is producing an exhibition and book to mark EMBL\u2019s 40<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary. His original concept \u2013 to image the Lab\u2019s architecture \u2013 soon swerved to the people in and around it. \u201cWhat became clear is that EMBL is a very cosmopolitan and intellectual environment,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt feels like its own universe with people from all walks of life who all have a story to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Instinctive images<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A chat with EMBL Director Matthias Hentze spawned an idea: <em>DNA | Portraits by Horst Hamann<\/em> will feature eyes-shut, black and white photographs of nearly 200 staff and alumni, chosen instinctively by Hamann during visits to EMBL sites. \u201cI asked people to close their eyes because this ties them together, regardless of age, gender or nationality,\u201d he explains. \u201cThey relax more, and their body language becomes more prominent, especially as there is no dress code here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"vf-blockquote\"><p>I asked people to close their eyes because this ties them together, regardless of age, gender or nationality<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>For a black sheep, Hamann has come a long way: turning the world of panoramic photography on its head with compelling vertical images of New York\u2019s skyscrapers and boasting an impressive portfolio of cityscapes, desertscapes, intimate portraits, and more. His career took off in the Big Apple \u2013 where he lived for 15 years \u2013&nbsp;first assisting a commercial photographer, but soon his images were hanging in the subway and occupying spreads in the <em>New York Times. <\/em>A medal of honour from Rudolph Giuliani, then city mayor, followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">People person<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>He fondly recalls shoots with the likes of Bill Clinton, Claudia Schiffer and Jon Bon Jovi \u2013&nbsp;but most unnerving was meeting his hero, footballer Gerd M\u00fcller. \u201cMy whole legs were shaking, but he turned out to be a very nice guy!\u201d Hamann says. \u201cMy heart lies in photographing people, and this is one of the most exciting things about this project here at EMBL.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"vf-figure wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-670 size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"465\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"http:\/\/news.embl.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/2014_07_Photography_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-670\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/2014_07_Photography_2.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/2014_07_Photography_2-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><figcaption class=\"vf-figure__caption\">Horst Hamann with his hero, German footballer Gerd M\u00fcller. PHOTO: HORST HAMANN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And as for the exhibition itself? \u201cYou will have to wait and see,\u201d he smiles coyly. \u201cThe photography will create an interactive dialogue with the architecture \u2013&nbsp;one needs to be creative as there are no straight walls here, but I will follow my instincts and then let the pictures speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A public preview&nbsp;of DNA | Portraits by Horst Hamann&nbsp;takes place at 11am, 13 September&nbsp;at the EMBL Advanced Training Centre, Heidelberg.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To photographer Horst Hamann, it&#8217;s the people, not the science, that make EMBL unique<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":262,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[81,48,43,49,25],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lab-matters","tag-anniversary","tag-facility","tag-heidelberg","tag-interdisciplinary","tag-partnerships"],"acf":{"article_intro":"<p>Photographer Horst Hamann looks out towards Mannheim from atop the EMBL Advanced Training Centre with a sparkle in his eyes. Whilst growing up in the Quadratestadt, he used to break into his school dark room, work all night developing photos, before sneaking back to bed before he was noticed. \u201cI was always the black sheep,\u201d he smiles.<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"View Horst Hamann's photography portfolio ","link_url":"http:\/\/www.horsthamann.com\/"}],"article_sources":false,"vf_locked":false,"featured":false,"color":"#007B53"},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>In our DNA | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To photographer Horst Hamann, it&#039;s the people, not the science, that make EMBL unique\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In our DNA | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To photographer Horst Hamann, it&#039;s the people, not the science, that make EMBL unique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-01T03:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-24T13:30:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/2014_07_Photography_1-e1404065022440.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"621\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"465\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adam Gristwood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adam Gristwood\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Adam Gristwood\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f7c8259826dbd1b46613f2b3c6d88953\"},\"headline\":\"In our DNA\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-01T03:00:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-24T13:30:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/\"},\"wordCount\":421,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/2014_07_Photography_1-e1404065022440.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"anniversary\",\"facility\",\"heidelberg\",\"interdisciplinary\",\"partnerships\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lab Matters\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/\",\"name\":\"In our DNA | EMBL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/2014_07_Photography_1-e1404065022440.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-01T03:00:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-24T13:30:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"To photographer Horst Hamann, it's the people, not the science, that make EMBL unique\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/dna\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/2014_07_Photography_1-e1404065022440.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/2014_07_Photography_1-e1404065022440.jpg\",\"width\":621,\"height\":465,\"caption\":\"Horst Hamann initially came to the Lab to take photographs of the EMBL Advanced Training Centre. 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