MARCO presents Structures of Identity: Photography from the Walther Collection, an exhibition examining how photographers across diverse cultures and historical periods have used their images to construct or question social stereotypes surrounding race, gender, class, and nationality. By emphasizing the work of artists and models who use the medium to subvert visual expectations and challenge markers of identification, the exhibition questions the notion of a stable, authentic self and shows how some photographers employ series rather than single images to explore the political and cultural forces shaping individual and collective subjectivities.

The exhibition includes series and sequences by artists from Europe, the United States, Asia, and several African countries, as well as vernacular and documentary photographs. Many of these investigations focus on portraiture, with particularly evocative self-representations used to challenge the social construction of identity. Other photographers examine landscapes, built environments, and public spaces, revealing the social and physical foundations that shape individual and collective identities. Together, these works reflect how visual forms and archival structures construct and reinforce social attitudes.

Structures of Identity highlights the different ways social subjectivity and identity are formed and considered within the history of photography, and illustrates the ongoing efforts of the Walther Collection to engage with the photographic medium beyond conventional cultural, geographic, and temporal boundaries.

Artists featured in the exhibition include: Vito Acconci, Dieter Appelt, Nobuyoshi Araki, Richard Avedon, Sammy Baloji, Oladélé Ajiboyé Bamgboyé, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Jodi Bieber, Karl Blossfeldt, Bernhard and Anna Blume, Candice Breitz, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Samuel Fosso, Manuel García Fernández, David Goldblatt, Lars C. Henrichsen, Pieter Hugo, Seydou Keïta, Errol H. Kemper, Hiroh Kikai, Shohachi Kimura and Yoshikazu Suzuki, Jürgen Klauke, Sabelo Mlangeni, Duane Michals, Santu Mofokeng, Daido Moriyama, Zanele Muholi, Eadweard Muybridge, Grace Ndiritu, Andrew Putter, J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere, Jo Ractliffe, Thomas Ruff, Ed Ruscha, August Sander, Berni Searle, Accra Shepp, Stephen Shore, Malick Sidibé, Thomas Struth, Mikhael Subotzky, Patrick Waterhouse, Guy Tillim, Sue Williamson, Kohei Yoshiyuki, Yang Fudong, and Zhang Huan, as well as a selection of portraits, albums, and ethnographic and scientific studies from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.