CAIF, the Coventry Association for International Friendship, and CDE, the Coventry-Dresden Exchange, are bringing Günter Starke and his partner, Christine, to Coventry from our twin city of Dresden in October this year. Now more than 80 years old, Günter is a legend in photographic circles in Saxony, having survived as a documentary photographer during the difficult years of the GDR, while Christine is known for her portraits and her documentary photography after German re-unification.
This year is the 80th anniversary of the destruction of Dresden (and the 85th Anniversary of Coventry’s “Blitz”) and while they are in Coventry Günter and Christine want to undertake a new photographic project specific to the city, a project intended to be about the success of Coventry as a centre of motor production but also about the demise of the industry since the 1980’s.
To carry out the project we are looking to make contact with “veterans” of Coventry’s motor industry, people who worked in the city’s factories from the 1960’s and onwards, in whatever capacity. We would like these “veterans” to tell us their stories and be photographed as representatives of the era in which Coventry was a leader of British engineering industry.
If you are a veteran of Coventry’s automobile industry and would be willing to take part – or, if you know someone who would like to have their photograph taken as part of this project – we would like to hear from you.
We would like to know a bit about yourself, when and where you started working in the motor industry in Coventry, how long you worked (in different companies?), when you finished work and the reason that your work ended (for example, retirement, redundancy, company closure).
Günter and Christine take photographs of their subjects in their domestic environment or in their place of work but you might prefer to be photographed in a familiar social setting. It would also be good to see any memorabilia that you have from your days working in the motor industry, any souvenirs or things that you associate with your time at work.
Contact: caif18@btinternet.com
07768606349.