image by August Sander Hauptmann der Reserve. Elsaß-Lothringen, ca 1916 Captain of the reserves Lots of uniforms on August Sanders photographs. I like, that this officer has two arms, but looks like someone, who has lost one. I like the surroundings, ordinary, artless. White spots eating themselves through the picture. Utterly undignified, this setting.
image by August Sander Tänzerin, Yvonne Estelle, ca.!935 Dancer What makes this photograph so different from other studio portraits of this kind? I am fascinated by the looks of this woman, who, in my eyes, has the air of a girl looking rather grown up. Friendly eyes, wide awake, her smile so delicate, self-reliant calm. I simply think she is beautiful. He made her glowing, out of the shades of grey.
image by August Sander Frau eines Malers. Verheiratet mit Peter Abelen, Köln ca. 1927/1928 The wife of the painter Peter Abelen Eighty years ago: a woman almost like a man, in a pose, unthinkable then, still unusual today. Holding a cigarette between her clenched teeth. Appearing agressive, part of the photographers visual game. Not real. But very present.
image by August Sander Witwer mit seinen Söhnen, ca 1906/07 Widower with sons
image by August Sander Schwestern, ca 1930 Sisters Frightened elves in the middle of nowhere. Your mother, your father probably are close by. You are going to get your picture taken. An extraordinary event. Somebody is scaring the hell out of you.
image by August Sander Arbeiterrentner. Kuchhausen, ca. 1945 Retired worker Backdrop. Foreground. Almost as if taken in a studio. Formal means that August Sander is using constantly. A simple image. I can do that. You can do that. Everybody can do that. We can´t do that. Sometimes this simplicity is harder to achieve, than anything else. Fragile old man, you are looking tired. Old man, why are you [...]
image by August Sander Bauer. Westerwald, ca. 1930/31 Farmer I don´t know the dress code of those times, for that, this farmer, looks for me like an undertaker, beaten by life. Obviously a misinterpretation. Still, this photograph, as many others by August Sander, shows his mastery of the form. An image, that, while relating to reality, has a layer, that is devoted purely to abstraction.
image by August Sander Bäuerliche Braut. ca. 1921/22 Rural bride Recently I noticed, while browsing through the net, that I react instinctively to images, where people, unaccountably, seem to look different, than the rest of us. Image by Nils Orth. Something is out of order here. I couldn´t pinpoint my unease and my fascination until I stumbled over the information that this face is a collage, a composition put together [...]
image by August Sander Bauernkinder. Westerwald, ca 1927/28 Farm children Two kids, a sheep. All of them looking straight into the camera. Nothing to say about the sheep. The boy, his gaze, a mixture of pride, sadness and adult like scepticism. The girl, her gaze, a shy smile, shadows under her eyes, looking tired. Fashion changes, society changes, but the emotions expressed by us, they stay the same.
image by August Sander Bauernkinder, 1927 Farm children August Sander book was one of the first ones I bought, back in 1980. I didn´t know then, that I would be studying photography later on, neither did I know that I would take up portrait photography myself. August Sander was born in 1876 and died in the year of 1964. I was four then. [...]
image by Jitka Hanzlova Rokytnik, 1990-1994
image by Jitka Hanzlova Rokytnik, 1990-1994
image by Jitka Hanzlova Rokytnik, 1990-1994
image by Jitka Hanzlova Rokytnik, 1990-1994