The exhibition Colour and Territory presents photographs from the key series ‘Ruhr’ (1981–1983), ‘Areal’ (1992–2002), ‘Ohio’ (1983–1984) and the newly compiled series ‘Colour and Territory’ (1986–1992). The photographs in the ‘Ruhr’ series bear witness to an orientation towards the objective gaze of the New Topographics, yet reveal a significant shift. Brohm’s colours are muted, nuanced and often shaped by the diffuse daylight of Central Europe. They consciously distance themselves from the loud, oversaturated visual language of contemporary advertising, yet without entirely rejecting visual spectacle. The typical colours of everyday life – from washed-out blue and rust-brown to the faded surfaces of caravans, snack bars and leisure facilities – gradually recede into the background.

The photo series ‘Ohio’ focuses on everyday urban settings in the United States as symbols of a country in transition. Oversized cars, abandoned sites and dilapidated billboards evoke an atmosphere of transience, alienation and the crumbling American dream. Here, Brohm begins a shift from a socio-cultural study of place towards an almost minimalist architectural abstraction, culminating in the series Areal. Over a period of eleven years, Brohm documented the transformation of the former industrial estate in the north of Munich; from a hub of economic prosperity through its gradual decline to the early stages of new residential development, thus representing changes over time that are exemplary of all regions of Europe.