Week Sixteen August Sander (1876 –1964) Girl in Fairground Caravan, 1926-1932 August Sander is one of the most important photographers of the early 20th century. In 1911, Sander began making images for a series entitled People of the 20th Century – his aim being to portray a cross-section of society during that particular moment in time. This theme grew out of portraits he had taken of farmers, in whom he saw the archetypal contemporary man. The series is divided into seven sections: The Farmer, The Skilled Tradesman, Woman, Classes and Professions, The Artists, The City, and The Last People – these being images of the homeless and gypsies. Sander liked to use large-format cameras with lengthy exposure times so he could focus on detail. He described his work as “assisting a self-portrait”. By 1944, he had taken over 40,000 images; these were destroyed when his studio got demolished by bombing. He published Face of our Time in 1929, which contained 60 portraits from his People series, and was an international success; in 1936, the Nazis destroyed the photographic plates. However, what remains gives us a great record of the period, especially of what people wore. His influence is made clear in Wim Wender’s film about fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto ‘Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989). What he said: “Nothing is more hateful to me than photography sugar-coated with gimmicks, poses and false effects. Let me speak the truth in all honesty about our age.” (1927). ” The prints in the portfolio were made in the vicinity of my home region, the Westerwald. Due to their closeness to nature, people whose habits I had known from boyhood seemed suitable for realizing my idea of a genealogical portfolio. With this the beginning had been made, and I subordinated all of the types I found to a prototype that possessed all the qualities of the universally human”. (1954) Why I like him His portraits have such an honesty about them. People gaze at the camera, caught in a moment of time. What they are wearing is almost like a fashion document of the age. People are all ages, perhaps not very conventionally attractive – real people, at work, or returning from work.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Jun 2013 21:34:58 +0000
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