Konrad Helbig
Konrad Helbig (1917–1986) was a German photographer, art historian and archaeologist. He is mostly known for intimate images of young Sicilian men, discovered only after his death. Life and work Helbig was a soldier in Wehrmacht, fighting in the Soviet Union during World War II. He was taken into captivity as prisoner of war. Helbig was able to return in 1947 from Soviet captivity. Immediately thereafter, at the age of thirty, he began studying art history and archeology. He was particularly interested in the Mediterranean cultures. After graduation, he traveled many times to the Mediterranean over the next few decades. Helbig worked both as a photographer and author of journal articles, with publications such as travel magazine Merian and Atlantis. He also published picture books, such as the volume on Sicily, published in 1956. Helbig mainly photographed in black and white. An essential exception, however, are color slide positives, which were intended for his slide lectures. Helbig is mostly known for intimate images of young Sicilian men. Only after his death in Mainz in 1986 were the nude photographs of young men discovered in his estate. The photographs, some of which were taken in the 1950s, are seen in the