great photographic portraits #5
When I first thought of doing this series of photographic portraits I knew that one of them would be by August Sander, who is probably my favourite portrait photographer. But how do you choose from the hundreds of superb images he made while working on his magnum opus 'Man of the Twentieth Century'? In the end I chose this one, but not for any particular reason - although I do like the expression on the sheep's face. There's something vaguely unsettling about many of Sanders' portraits, although they're not what you'd call 'contrived'. In this case it could be because the children are dressed up and posing like adults, which makes the sheep seem unduly large. Or maybe it's just the unexpected presence of the sheep.
Looking at Sanders' work recently, the one thing that strikes me is the influence he has obviously had on photographers like Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus and Joel Peter Witkin. I see his stamp on Edgar Reitz's monumental film series 'Heimat' too, which is a similar homage to the German people. Sander cast his net so wide, and approached his subjects in so many different ways, that I suspect almost every portraitist will find an echo of their own style in his work.
To me, Sanders seems an honest and generous photographer, treating his subjects equally regardless of whether they are artists, tramps, circus performers, politicians, soldiers, mothers, architects or farmers. His portraits are rarely predictable, they generally have an edge to them, and he somehow knew how to find that elusive ingredient which has endowed his subjects with a kind of immortality. In that respect he was a magician with the camera - or maybe 'alchemist' is a better word. I think he must have edited his material rigorously - with a very keen eye for what worked and what didn't - but that he probably approached his task primarily from the point of view of a documentary photographer rather than an artist. He just happened to be a great artist too.
When I first thought of doing this series of photographic portraits I knew that one of them would be by August Sander, who is probably my favourite portrait photographer. But how do you choose from the hundreds of superb images he made while working on his magnum opus 'Man of the Twentieth Century'? In the end I chose this one, but not for any particular reason - although I do like the expression on the sheep's face. There's something vaguely unsettling about many of Sanders' portraits, although they're not what you'd call 'contrived'. In this case it could be because the children are dressed up and posing like adults, which makes the sheep seem unduly large. Or maybe it's just the unexpected presence of the sheep.
Looking at Sanders' work recently, the one thing that strikes me is the influence he has obviously had on photographers like Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus and Joel Peter Witkin. I see his stamp on Edgar Reitz's monumental film series 'Heimat' too, which is a similar homage to the German people. Sander cast his net so wide, and approached his subjects in so many different ways, that I suspect almost every portraitist will find an echo of their own style in his work.
To me, Sanders seems an honest and generous photographer, treating his subjects equally regardless of whether they are artists, tramps, circus performers, politicians, soldiers, mothers, architects or farmers. His portraits are rarely predictable, they generally have an edge to them, and he somehow knew how to find that elusive ingredient which has endowed his subjects with a kind of immortality. In that respect he was a magician with the camera - or maybe 'alchemist' is a better word. I think he must have edited his material rigorously - with a very keen eye for what worked and what didn't - but that he probably approached his task primarily from the point of view of a documentary photographer rather than an artist. He just happened to be a great artist too.
posted by alan at 11.3.06
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