Why Germany's best photographers all studied with Bernd and Hilla Becher

Jörg Sasse likes to distort reality by manipulating existing images on his computer and creating new realities. Sasse does not consider himself a photographer as such, despite having studied under Bernd and Hilla Becher. His works are featured in important museums and collections and are now on show in the "Photographs Become Pictures. Becher Class" exhibition at Frankfurt's Städel Museum.

This image of passport control at an airport seems cold, formal and almost technical. Andreas Gursky captures the aesthetics of such moments, firmly believing that "form follows function." Bernd and Hilla Becher also subscribed to this particular take on art. Unlike his teachers, however, Gursky likes to explore color in his photographs.

Petra Wunderlich's picture of a quarry somewhere in Italy, presented in black-and-white hues (just like Bernd and Hilla Becher's photographs) is also featured at the exhibition in Frankfurt. Wunderlich was a leading student under the Bechers in Dusseldorf but never managed to have a major lucky break. Maybe being part of the Becher Class show at the Städel Museum can help her break the spell.

One of the first graduates of the Becher school of photography, Volker Döhne worked as a commercial photographer for the art museums in Krefeld. His work depicts urban areas and highlights shapes and forms that are unique to city life.

Bernd and Hilla Becher spent decades immortalizing the industrial power of the Ruhr Valley and Rhineland, documenting monumental shifts in western Germany's traditional industries of coal mining and steelworks. Their images epitomize the widespread fascination there is for the form and flow of large-scale industrial complexes. The Becher photographs are vital to the history of photography.

Andreas Gursky follows his masters' footsteps, allowing for form to leave a lasting impression. This picture of a massive housing estate in Paris is almost overwhelming. His photographs are digitally enhanced, which observers can only pick up on when looking from a close distance. Gursky is one of the world's most celebrated photographers today.

A cold and empty staircase covered in tiles comes to life through the use of contrasts in terms of light and dark spaces in this picture. Axel Hütte's photograph almost resembles a painting in this regard - and yet it seems to be detached from what it actually depicts. Hütte's work often represents reality in a more narrative manner.

Candida Höfer was one of Bernd and Hilla Becher's leading students in Dusseldorf. After her studies, the photographer from Cologne started her career taking portraits, but later shifted to depicting larger interior spaces devoid of humans. Libraries, lecture halls, concert halls, museums and coffee shops - she's captured them all. Höfer is one of the most celebrated photographers in Germany today.

Many of the Becher Class students have participated in major global art shows, including the documenta. One of those who has had his work shown at the documenta is Thomas Ruff. His early works depicted interior spaces, like this aesthetic composition here, where the observer feels a distance from the image. Later in his career, Ruff turned his attention to protraiture series and other motifs.