Bernd and Hilla Becher were two German conceptual photographers who together produced typographical documentation of industrial structures. Their black-and-white images served as visual case studies of what they called Anonymous Sculpture, referring to disappearing architectural relics such as coal mines, steel mills, water towers, grain silos, and gas tanks. “I became aware that these buildings [blast furnaces] were a kind of nomadic architecture which had a comparatively short life—maybe 100 years, often less, then they disappear,” the artists said of their work. “It seemed important to keep them in some way and photography seemed the most appropriate way to do that.” Bernd Becher was born on August 20, ...