Albert Renger-Patzsch
On the work
Fichtenwald im Winter, 1951
Vintage gelatin silver print
22.4 x 16.5 cm
Gitterwerk, 1920s
Vintage gelatin silver print
16.7 x 23 cm
"[...] The secret of a good photograph, which can possess artistic qualities like an artwork, lies in its realism". In 1927 Albert Renger-Patzsch described in his essay "Ziele" ("Goals") an important characteristic of his photographic work. In their almost painterly-graphic style his photographs demonstrate how systematically he executed his claims to photography and how painstakingly he worked towards the perfection of a photo. According to his own claims to portray the "objectivity of the world of things" and with an analytically objective gaze to perceive the corresponding subject, he left nothing to chance. Renger-Patzsch perceived his motifs by focusing on them, developing a strict dramaturgy: important factors were the precisely determined time of origin, depending on the season or the time of day; the precise delimitation of the detail of the photo; and the incisiveness in the reproduction of the corresponding natural light.
Albert Renger-Patzsch wurde 1897 in Würzburg geboren und starb 1966 in Wamel.