Taking photos of things that do not exist

London

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel and her three predecessors sit in an orderly row; between them, these four figures have led Germany since 1974. Pictured through a window and from behind, they gaze at a huge abstract painting on the wall in front of them.

The moment would have been incredible to capture - had it ever happened. In fact, the image is a digital composition by the German photographer Andreas Gursky, who constructed it using pictures of the four chancellors he took separately. Review (2015) is one of nearly 70 works on display in the new retrospective of the artist's work at the Hayward Gallery in London. The exhibition, which opened on Jan 25, is the gallery's first after renovations that took just over two years to complete.