German Photography 1870-1970: Power of a Medium [Hardcover]

Klaus Honnef (Author), Rolf Sachsse (Editor), Karin Thomas (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 1997

German photography of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries has long been overshadowed by other forms of German art produced during this period. Yet many German photographers working then -- August Sander, meticulous recorder of life in Cologne; various photographers who have been linked to the Bauhaus movement; the mostly Jewish photojournalists of the golden twenties; and more recently, Hilla and Bernd Becher, with their series of pithead frames and water towers -- are justly renowned for their work.

This superbly illustrated book examines the different levels and purposes of German photography from 1870 to 1970: art, photojournalism, propaganda, advertising, and architectural and fashion photography. Setting the historical background before which the use and abuse of photography takes place, the authors examine the extent that photography was influenced by the German nationalist movement, the changes it underwent during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II, its links to the avant garde movements, and its development through the world wars and the Cold War. The authors reveal new and astonishing insights into such subjects as the influence of Soviet, Hungarian, and Czech photography in the Weimar Republic, the role of photography in Nazi propaganda, the depiction of Jewish life during the Third Reich in private and official photographs, and the different uses of photography in both German states after World War II. With biographies of all photographers of major importance and hundreds of photographs in color and black and white, the book is a treasure trove for all lovers of photography and German culture.

This book is the catalogue for an exhibition that takes place in theKunst-und Ausstellungshalle in Bonn, Germany, from May to August 1997.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These three catalogs demonstrate the advantages and problems of reviewing photography as representative of national identity. Catalog to a museum show in Vienna, Japanese Photography is probably the most successful work, bringing together portfolios of work by 12 contemporary photographers. The subtitle and theme of the show, juxtaposing the material and spiritual, is somewhat superfluous in the face of the individual talents exhibited, but it is a valid frame for the works. More important, those familiar with the currents of art photography will know most of the names and, especially because several works by each master are shown, will readily recognize influences across borders. Those merely browsing will be enthralled by the beauty and diversity of the works. The historical survey of a century of German photography is successful in drawing connections between the social milieu and the photographs, but its in-depth textual analysis will be of greatest interest to a scholarly community. Encompassing propaganda and photojournalism as well as art photography, the book investigates how the medium came of age in the German context. Students of the rapidly evolving Teutonic culture of this century will appreciate especially the essays on the Weimar-era images and comparisons of the uses of photography in the two Germanys after World War II. General readers will value the more than 120 large-format reproductions and dozens of other small images that were part of a show in Bonn earlier this year. Contemporary German Photography is the most disappointing. Collecting several works by about two dozen young and largely unknown German photographers, the book obsessively concentrates on diary-style artists operating under the influence of Nan Goldin and Wolfgang Tillmans. The rambling preface offers no compelling justification why photographers of diverse styles should not have been included, and the short paragraphs introducing each grouping (apparently written by the artists themselves) vacillate between dry and sophomoric. While individual images are compelling, the redundancy of vision makes even the best seem formulaic. The Taschen book is not recommended; Honnef's work belongs in most all academic libraries where it will be appreciated by social historians as well as art researchers; and Japanese Photography will be a fine addition to contemporary art collections in both public and academic institutions.?Eric Bryant, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Dumont Buchverlag; 1ST edition (June 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300071728
• ISBN-13: 978-0300071726
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 10.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,763,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)