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A curated digital collection brings together 31 photographs from one of Alfred Ehrhardt’s key bodies of work, with an APHEUM Frame M featuring the collection permanently on display at the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung in Berlin.
Stuttgart/Berlin, September 10, 2026 - Together with the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung, APHEUM is releasing Nautilus - Muscheln und Schnecken (Nautilus - Shells and Snails), a collection of 31 black-and-white photographs created between 1938 and 1941.
The collection brings an important body of work by the Bauhaus-influenced photographer to APHEUM in a curated digital format. An APHEUM Frame M featuring the collection will remain on permanent display at the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung in Berlin.
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. His later photography combined this artistic training with a precise eye for the forms and structures found in nature.
Ehrhardt began photographing shells and snails in 1938 and continued to explore the subject for decades. He first published the photographs in the 1941 photobook Muscheln und Schnecken and returned to the body of work in 1968 for the volume Geprägte Form.
Photographed against a deep black background and with carefully controlled light, the shells appear not as natural-history specimens 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 the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung - translated from German
At first glance, Ehrhardt’s photographs in the APHEUM Frame resemble traditionally framed fine-art prints. Yet the collection itself is entirely digital and can be managed through APHEUM.
Images can be selected and changed without the need to produce, frame or replace physical prints.
APHEUM combines the quiet visual presence of a photographic print with the ability to provide context for each work. Information accompanying each photograph makes its history and significance accessible.
Rather than appearing on an illuminated display, the image has the visual presence of a print. APHEUM’s Deep Grayscale rendering reproduces subtle tonal differences, bringing out the surfaces and sculptural structures of 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 richness that comes from such concentrated observation of form, light and material. Our aim is not merely to make images visible, but to create a meaningful encounter with the work - giving it a lasting presence in the room while providing the context that reveals its significance.”
Christopher Colshorn, Founder of APHEUM - translated from German
An APHEUM Frame M featuring the collection will remain on display at the 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. Further information about the collection and the frame is available from APHEUM and through the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung shop.
Alfred Ehrhardt (1901-1984) is regarded as one of the notable figures of New Objectivity in German photography. Trained as a musician and active as an art educator, he studied at the Bauhaus in Dessau before increasingly turning to photography from 1933 and later to cultural and documentary film. He published more than 20 photobooks and made 60 films, receiving numerous national and international awards, including four German Federal Film Awards.
Founded in 2002, the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung preserves and researches Alfred Ehrhardt’s artistic estate and brings his work to a wider public through exhibitions and publications. Its programme combines scholarly engagement with his photography and film with contemporary artistic perspectives. The foundation is based at Auguststraße 75 in Berlin-Mitte.
APHEUM develops e-paper frames and a connected digital platform for presenting photography with the quiet visual presence of a traditional print.
Images and curated collections can be managed and changed digitally, while contextual information provides insight into the artist, the work and its history.
Alongside personal photography, APHEUM enables curated collections to be presented in private, cultural and professional environments.
Christopher Colshorn
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +49 152 5143 4488
Website: www.apheum.com
Images, video and the English and German press releases are supplied as supporting media. The relevant credit must be reproduced in full with every publication.
Use is permitted within the scope of the approval granted by the 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.
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