Two Pairs of Eyes: An Evening at Leica Welt

We attended the opening of “Zwei Augenpaare. Fotografien von Donata Wenders und Wim Wenders” at the Ernst Leitz Museum in Wetzlar. Two photographic worlds, a conversation between two ways of seeing, and a place that is worth the trip all by itself.

Hero image: Donata Wenders, Self Portrait I, Warsaw 1997 © Donata Wenders June 12, 2026 Exhibition

I. An invitation to Wetzlar

Sometimes an evening gives you a gift you did not expect. Falk Friedrich, Stephan Volk and Nicolas Herrlich had invited us to the opening of “Zwei Augenpaare. Fotografien von Donata Wenders und Wim Wenders” at the Ernst Leitz Museum in Wetzlar. Lino Kalkhoff and Johannes Fielers were there for [k]eine produktion. And what an evening it was.

Opening speech in front of a large audience, a huge LEICA lettering on the wall behind — The opening at the Ernst Leitz Museum

Guest in a dark jacket in conversation at the reception in the museum foyer, black and white — Arriving at the opening

II. Two ways of seeing

The exhibition places two photographic worlds side by side that could hardly be more different. Here the colour saturated, unpeopled vastness of Wim Wenders. There the black and white, intimate closeness of Donata Wenders, light, shadow, movement. Together they create something you do not expect: a real conversation between two ways of looking at the world. The show presents iconic motifs as well as newer work from recent years.

Black and white photograph: a man stands backlit on a square in Warsaw reading a newspaper, his shadow stretching long across the pavement — Donata Wenders, News in Warsaw, Poland 2006. From the exhibition “Zwei Augenpaare” © Donata Wenders

Visitors at the opening in front of a large, colour saturated landscape photograph by Wim Wenders — In front of Wim Wenders’ landscapes

III. The interview

What moved us most was an interview with the two of them, produced especially for the exhibition. Remarkably open, very close. A rare glimpse into a shared artistic stance that does not explain itself, it simply shows.

Three guests at the opening looking intently in the same direction, black and white — Captivated faces at the opening

Visitors in front of a photograph projected onto transparent fabric hanging freely in the room — Installation in the exhibition

View into the dimly lit exhibition rooms with visitors, black and white — Inside the exhibition rooms

IV. Leica Welt

And then there is the Leica Welt campus itself. A place that is worth the trip all by itself. Anyone interested in photography, in optics, in the history of a medium will find more here than just a museum.

Leica Welt in Wetzlar

The Leitz Cine building in the Leitz-Park under a wide evening sky — Leitz Cine in the Leitz-Park

V. Go see it

“Zwei Augenpaare. Fotografien von Donata Wenders und Wim Wenders” runs until 20 September 2026 at the Ernst Leitz Museum, Am Leitz-Park 6, Wetzlar. Highly recommended.

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