Wim Wenders’ photographs of moody Americana

‘Driving without a destination is my greatest passion,’ says Wenders. whose new exhibition has opened in New York’s Howard Greenberg Gallery.

Wim Wenders doesn’t travel with a script in mind. The German auteur of picturesque moody cult-favourite films such as Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire rather wanders until he encounters a place with narrative potential. ‘When I can feel a place and be comfortable in it, the stories bound to happen there come to me,’ Wenders says. ‘They must be stories that could not happen anywhere else.’ The Berliner pursues a similar motivation to find the subjects of his photography, some of which are now on view at New York’s Howard Greenberg Gallery. The show, titled Written Once, in the historic Art Deco Fuller Building focuses on two bodies of work which Wenders captured in 1970s and ‘80s.

Wenders images, not unlike his internationally-lauded films such as 2023’s Oscar-nominated Perfect Days, stem from an urge to contemplate on a place. ‘Most American films are story-driven, but my interest is in place-driven works,’ he adds. The 79-year-old’s decades-long interest in the American west in fact embodies this appetite for enigmatic sites with veiled narratives. Abandoned gas stations, spectral motel signs, and haunted theatres intrigue him with their untold tales and unexpected beauty.

Wim Wenders: Written Once is at Howard Greenburg gallery until March 15, 2025.