Hilla Becher, Photographer Who Chronicled Industrial Scenery, Dies at 81

Hilla Becher, the German photographer who, with her husband, Bernd, meticulously documented coal mines, steel mills and other features of the industrial landscape, straddling the worlds of archival documentation and conceptual art, died on Saturday in Düsseldorf. She was 81.

Hilla Becher posing next to her photo series “Kühltürme” (Cooling towers) at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville in Paris, in 2002. CreditDavid Ebener/European Pressphoto Agency