August Sander. People of the 20th Century.

‘The essence of photography is by nature documentary” that’s how August Sander, the most influential photographer in history explained his view on photography. He mainly focused on the portraits, but even behind them there was a political purpose.  A good example would be his set of works “People of the 20^th Century” in which August Sander wanted to show the aspects of social and professional group. The work “People of the 20^Th Century” is divided into seven categories: The Farmer, The Skilled Tradesman, The Woman, Classes and Professions, The Artists, The City, and The Last People.

All these categories show us different type of people of Germany in 1920s and 1930s- working class, philosophers, students, doctors, soldiers, aristocrats, his family and even politicians. In the “Woman” section August focused on women at all their diversity- from those women that devote themselves to raise children to those who seek to make a career. The last section of the series, is not without a reason called "The Last People”. It is devoted to people which were removed from the society - the disabled and mentally ill people, dying people, beggars and vagabonds. The pictures from this section have caused particular disappointment with the Ministry of Culture of Nazi Germany, because these photographs questioned the idea of ​​the German race as a heroic and pure nation. Nowadays, the series consists of photographs, which managed to survive after the repression that followed the destruction of the album. In these works of "People of the 20th century," August Sander tried to discover the deep essence of the human being, his membership in a particular social and cultural type. He believed that the camera makes this process more significant than any other visual tools. 

 

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Tagliaventi, A., Leonelli, L., Mauro, A., Zanot, F., Curti, D. (2009) Foto: Box. Translated by Jimena Bargados, Catriona Cappleman, Clare Costa, Grace Crerar-Bromlow and Luisa Nitrato Izzo. Reprint, London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2009. 

Images:
Sander. A. (1928). The Right Eye of My Daughter Sigrid [Online]. Available at: http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A5145&page_number=22&template_id=1&sort_order=1 (Accessed: 3 April 2012).
Sander. A. (1928). Bricklayer's Mate [Online]. Available at: http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A5145&page_number=25&template_id=1&sort_order=1 (Accessed: 3 April 2012).
Sander. A. (1930-31). Children Born Blind [Online]. Available at: http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A5145&page_number=30&template_id=1&sort_order=1 (Accessed 3 April 2012).