31 photographs from a key body of work by Alfred Ehrhardt are becoming available as a curated digital collection and will remain on permanent display at Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung in Berlin.
Stuttgart/Berlin, September 10, 2026 – Together with Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung, APHEUM is releasing the collection “Nautilus – Muscheln und Schnecken” (“Nautilus – Shells and Snails”). It comprises 31 black-and-white photographs made between 1938 and 1941 and makes an important body of work by the Bauhaus-influenced photographer accessible as a curated digital APHEUM collection. An APHEUM Frame M featuring the collection will remain on permanent display at Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung in Berlin.
Discover “Nautilus – Muscheln und Schnecken”
A body of work spanning decades
Alfred Ehrhardt (1901–1984) was a musician, painter, art educator, photographer and filmmaker. During his time at the Bauhaus in Dessau in 1928/29, he was influenced by Josef Albers, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Oskar Schlemmer, among others. In his later photography, he combined this artistic training with a precise eye for the forms and structures of nature.
Ehrhardt began photographing shells and snails in 1938 and continued to engage with the subject for decades. He first published the photographs in the 1941 photo book Muscheln und Schnecken and returned to the body of work in 1968 for the volume Geprägte Form. Against a deep-black background and under carefully directed light, the calcareous shells appear not as specimens of natural history, but as autonomous sculptural forms. Ridges, spirals, spines and shimmering surfaces become studies in material, rhythm and nature’s principles of form.
“The photographs of shells and snails hold a special place within Alfred Ehrhardt’s work. They bring together his Bauhaus-informed understanding of form, his interest in material and structure, and his philosophy of nature. Making these 31 works accessible as a coherent collection opens another route into this important body of work.”
Dr Christiane Stahl, Director of Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung — translated from German
Like a print – without a luminous screen
At first glance, Ehrhardt’s photographs in the APHEUM Frame resemble traditionally framed fine-art prints. In fact, the collection is managed entirely digitally through the APHEUM system. Images can be selected and changed without producing, framing or replacing new prints.
APHEUM combines the quiet presence of photography in a room with greater contextual depth: each work is accompanied by information that makes its history and significance accessible. The image does not appear like an actively illuminated display, but like a print. APHEUM’s Deep Grayscale rendering provides finely differentiated tonal reproduction, revealing the surfaces and sculptural structures in Ehrhardt’s black-and-white photographs.
“For APHEUM, it is something special to be able to offer such an important and coherent body of work by Alfred Ehrhardt as a collection. These photographs reveal the depth contained in the concentrated observation of form, light and material. Our aim is not merely to make images visible, but to enable an encounter with the work – with a lasting presence in the room and the context that reveals its significance.”
Christopher Colshorn, Founder of APHEUM — translated from German
Permanently on view in Berlin
An APHEUM Frame M featuring the collection will remain on display at Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung, Auguststraße 75, Berlin. Visitors can experience how the historic black-and-white photographs appear on the reflective, non-luminous image surface of the 42 × 35 centimetre frame.
“Nautilus – Muscheln und Schnecken” is available as a collection for the APHEUM Frame M from September 10, 2026.
About Alfred Ehrhardt
Alfred Ehrhardt (1901–1984) is regarded as an outstanding representative of New Objectivity photography. Trained as a musician, active as an art educator and a student at the Bauhaus in Dessau, he increasingly turned to photography from 1933 and later to cultural and documentary film. He published more than 20 photo books and made 60 films, receiving numerous national and international awards, including four German Federal Film Awards.
About Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung
Founded in 2002, Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung preserves, researches and communicates Alfred Ehrhardt’s artistic estate. Its programme combines scholarly study of his photography and film with exhibitions, publications and contemporary positions. The foundation is based at Auguststraße 75 in Berlin-Mitte.
About APHEUM
APHEUM develops connected e-paper photo frames and the accompanying platform for the high-quality presentation of photographic content. The solution combines the quiet visual presence of a framed print with the ability to manage, schedule and regularly renew content centrally. Alongside users’ own images, curated photographic collections can be presented; accompanying context makes the authorship, history and significance of the works accessible. Applications include municipalities, cultural and educational institutions, businesses, hotels and public spaces.
Press Contact
Christopher Colshorn
Email: presse@apheum.com
Telephone: +49 152 5143 4488
Website: www.apheum.com
Media Notes and Credits
Images and video are available from the press contact. The relevant credit must be reproduced in full with every publication.
- Archive photograph of Alfred Ehrhardt, 1924–1929: © Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung.
- Works MUS-0002 and MUS-0031: © Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung.
- APHEUM Frame M: © APHEUM · Photograph in the APHEUM Frame: © Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung.
- Video: © APHEUM · Photographs in the APHEUM Frame: © Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung.
Use is permitted within the scope of the approval granted by Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung and in connection with editorial coverage of Alfred Ehrhardt’s collection Nautilus – Muscheln und Schnecken. Any use or alteration beyond this context requires the consent of the respective rights holders.
Download the press kit
Download the complete press kit (ZIP)
The press kit contains the press release in German and English, press images with clearly stated credits, and the video without an audio track.