August Sander depicts the German “everyman”

When looking at the achievements of German photographers from the Düsseldorf School at the exhibition entitled, ?Appearance/Disappearance — A German Album — Contemporary German Photography,? one cannot pass over the works of August Sander. Sander devoted 40 years of his life to fulfill his goal, creating classic portraits to draw an objective picture of German society.

His efforts resulted in over 600 portraits of German citizens from 7 social and professional groups.

The 60 photos that make up the exhibition entitled, ?Face of Time,? will be presented at the Turlej Gallery.

This exhibition serves as a historic background for this year?s Festival of Photography and allows visitors to notice the spark that later influence the works of masters Walker Evans and Diane Arbus.

Sander was a renowned portrait photographer, who took no efforts to stylize his work. Instead, he treated them like a social documentary as opposed to an artistic undertaking. As a result, his work has a rare psychological depth illustrating the interplay between the similarities and differences that make up the image of the ?everyman.? Each portrait depicts an individual alone and as a member of the greater community at the same time.

One can be certain that the collection of works presented at the Turlej Gallery is worth seeing, as they were selected by the photographer when he worked on the materials for his first book in 1929. These exceptional photos surpass the portrait photography and still inspire many contemporary photographers.
 
August Sander ? Face of Time
May 23-July 15, 2007
Turlej Gallery
ul. Sw. Jana 2