albert renger-patzsch.
Albert Renger-Patzsch was born june 22, 1897 and died September 27, 1966; he was a German photographer associated with the New Objectivity. He became a freelancer and in 1925 published a book called 'The choir stalls of Cappenberg'. A second book followed in 1928, 'Die welt ist shon' which means 'The World is Beautiful '. This is a collection of one hundred of his photographs in which natural forms, industrial subjects and mass-produced objects are presented with the clarity of scientific illustrations. He was a pioneering figure in the new objectivity movement, which sought to engage with the world as clearly and precisely as possible. Ignoring the sentimentality and idealism of a previous generation, Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) emerged in German art, architecture and literature in the 1920s. HERE In photography, Renger-Patzsch espoused the camera’s ability to produce a faithful recording of the world. ‘There must be an increase in the joy one takes in an object, and the photographer should be fully conscious of the splendid fidelity of reproduction made possible by his technique’, he wrote.
This selection reflects the range of subjects that Renger-Patzsch returned to throughout his career. It includes his early wildlife and botanical studies, images of traditional craftsmen, formal studies of mechanical equipment, commercial still lifes, and landscape and architectural studies. His images of the Ruhrregion, where he moved in 1928, document the industrialisation of the area in almost encyclopaedic detail. All of his work demonstrates his sustained interest in the camera’s relationship to the beauty and complexity of the modern world. In 1928 Renger-Patzsch published The World is Beautiful, a collection of one hundred photographs whose rigorous sensitivity to form revealed patterns of beauty and order in the natural and man-made alike. Embodying a new, distinctly modern way of looking at the world, the book established Renger-Patzsch as one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century. |
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Evaluate:
Both photographs show a strong upward direction, using the contrast between the light background and dark shapes. The photo on the left has vast depth giving the photo a feeling of infinity, the fog creates a distortion and lack of clarity in the picture which supports this feeling as well as adding a feel of lack of perfection. The photo on the right hasn't a lot of depth as the images on a white background, and is clear, giving the photo a feel of perfection and formality - this is also shown in the formation of the objects. The man made image uses geometric shapes which gives the image direction almost as if they re pointing upwards. The natural image has a much more organic feel, and its the twisted trees that give the image that feel of direction. The repetitive objects give the photo an abstract sense and give the photo a kind of rhythm and creates the idea that the composition is more important than the object being photographed.
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