The new objectivity was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920’s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was invented by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the Kunsthalle in Mannheim, who used it as the title of an art exhibition staged in 1925 to showcase artists who were working in a post-expressionist spirit. These artists included; Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Christian Schad and Jeanne Mammen.

Although principally describing a tendency in German painting, the term took a life of its own and came to characterize the attitude of public life in Weimar, Germany as well as the art, literature, music and architecture created to adapt to it.

Albert Renger-Patzsch was a German photographer associated with the New Objectivity. Renger-Patzsch was born in Würzburg, Germany and began making photographs by the age of 12.                        In it’s sharply focused an matter of fact style of his work exemplifies the aesthetic of the New Objectivity movement that flourished in the arts of Germany.

In this topic of New objectivity I started focussing on Albert Renger-Patzsch, this is because of his take on New objectivity. He mainly takes photos of inanimate objects such as; Plants, Buildings, roads and glasses, but has also taken photos of snakes. He then uses the expulsion of colour from his work to give the atmosphere an eerie and spooky feeling, this creates a dramatic feeling within the person looking at the photo.

I also like his work as it rejects the sentimentality and idealism of a previous generation emerged as a tendency in German art. Renger-Patzsch’s work demonstrates a his sustained interest in the camera’s relationship to the beauty and complexity of the modern world.

Here are some of my favourite photos of examples of New Objectivity.

The new objectivity was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920’s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was invented by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the Kunsthalle in Mannheim, who used it as the title of an art exhibition staged in 1925 to showcase artists who were working in a post-expressionist spirit. These artists included; Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Christian Schad and Jeanne Mammen.

Although prinicpally describing a tendency in German painting, the term took a life of its own and came to characterize the attitude of public life in Weimar, Germany as well as the art, literature, music and architecture created to adapt to it.

Albert Renger-Patzsch was a German photographer associated with the New Objectivity. Renger-Patzsch was born in Würzburg, Germany and began making photographs by the age of 12.                        In it’s sharply focused an matter of fact style of his work exemplifies the aesthetic of the New Objectivity movement that flourished in the arts of Germany.

I like this work of Albert Renger-Patzsch as it creates a feeling of loneliness or spookiness with the use of Black and White. I really like the building photo as it is a modern architectural structure but the black and white makes it seem a lot older, this is the amazing thing with photography.

I also like his work as it rejects the sentimentality and idealism of a previous generation emerged as a tendency in German art. Renger-Patzsch’s work demonstrates a his sustained interest in the camera’s relationship to the beauty and complexity of the modern world.

For my first edited photo on Photoshop, I carefully selected an image which I took as part of my abstract photography piece,  in this instance it was a thin pipe on a gravel like textured cycle track.

Then I made the background into Black and white, which didn’t , make too much of a difference as the colours weren’t extravagant in the first place, but I did this in order to bring out the colour in the center pipe.

Then using a mask layer I then coloured inside the tube being very careful not to bring out colours from the background. I personally find this went well for my first attempt as the black and white, compared to the subtle and gentle colours contrasts really well.

And that is my final product !