It was in 2000 when an unknown Swiss photographer aged 80 came up with his first solo show revisiting the zeitgeist of rebellious 60s with his documentation of youth culture, and soon Karlheinz Weinberger emerged as a big name.
Well, after a decade, the photographer’s posthumous book titled, Jeans explores the history of denim by peeping into post-war Swiss rebellion and Europe’s obsession with denim. Capturing the eternal spirit of rebellious denim clad youth, the book accentuates upon the role of denim to bring a cultural phenomenon through Karlheinz’s black-and- white street images.
‘Jeans’ chronicles the messianic following of American Pop culture in Europe by featuring Elvis Presley and James Dean obsessed youth of 60s. Moreover, the book highlights ‘Halbstarke’, the postwar subculture of aggressive adolescents who followed the American DIY look by customizing their jeans and denim jackets with nuts and bolts.
Very raw and real-to-life photographs somehow depict the dissatisfaction of working class Europeans way back in 60s with the prevailing conservative of the era.
