An Interview with Hilla Becher

For almost 50 years, Bernd and Hilla Becher photographed aging industrial buildings and workers' housing in Western Europe and the United States. They arranged their photographs—whether on gallery walls or in books—into grids and sequences called "typologies." This approach of visually cataloging and categorizing has influenced subsequent generations of artists.

We spoke with Hilla Becher about her life's work, focusing on examples within the Getty Museum's collection.

Listen to the audio online, or download it to your computer. You can also view a full transcript of the conversation.

• Listen to the interview online (18 min.):

Download the audio to listen on your computer, iPod/iPhone, or other MP3 player (MP3, 6 MB).

Read the transcript (PDF, 58 KB, 6 pp.).

'Hasard' Coal Mine, Cheratte, near Liege, Belgium / Becher