Tag Archives: Albert Renger-Patzsch

Independent, Reading, Task

The World is Beautiful

Leave a comment

Albert Renger-Patzsch was a German Photographer born in who specialised in black and white landscapes capturing the beauty of the natural world and also its man made elements specifically industrial architecture. He often shot in harsh lighting which gave his images long shadows and a large tonal range. He liked to shoot ordinary scenes from a unique angle. A lot of his pieces also had rhythmic features as he shot a lot of repeating items. He was also associated with New Objectivity Movement.

Albert arrived to photography when a new generation of photographers were moving away from pictorialism. His work reacted to expressionism, a way to face a reality and to have a figurative approach about photography.

Albert Renger-Patzsch started his work in nature, He drew the eye close to natural elements of the word around us. As he moved on, he began to focus more on modernity and drew our eye to more dynamic angles of our world, his favourite way to do this is by shooting industrialism and in addition to this he focused on how humans have changed the landscape around them.

In his book “The World is Beautiful” he creates a metaphysical description of the world in 1928. There is a thematic progression in the book; it starts with nature and then animals, then landscapes and the world constructed by man and he finishes it with an ambiguous image of a persons hands instigating they are preying or begging. He was aware of a transformative perception that was taking place in the 20s

The new objectivity movement was, simply put a style of photography that emerged out of Germany in the 1920s reacted to expressionism in a way that focused on the objective world. Some of the other artists involved in the era were August Sander and Karl Blossfeldt.

I think another photographer that has been influenced by the new objectivity movement is Henry Wessel. Henry shoots ordinary scenes and withdraws the beauty from them.

My Favorite photos from Albert Renger Patzsch

Image Analysis

The similarities in this image include:

  • They are both industrial settings which are man made.
  • They both have leading lines which make your eye travel down the length of the image.
  • They are both shot with a lot of light and therefore possess a large tonal range
  • Both images have a repeating rhythm, the image on the left has repeating geometric window frames and the image on the right has repeating factory chimneys.

The differences in this image include:

  • With the image on the right albert has framed the industrial factory between the two street side buildings, whereas when he took the image on the left he did not frame the building.
  • The image on the right has a greater depth of field
  • The image on the left is more geometric, this is created by the perfectly rectangular and uniform windows and the sharp corners everywhere.

My reaction to Alberts photography:

I exercised shooting interesting angles, macro framing and objectivity in our man made and natural world. I focused on finding leading lines that draw the eye to centre of the image. I also shot with a small aperture to create a great depth of field and to create more contrast in the image and accentuate the black and white film photography look that Albert used to shoot in.

Contact sheets

Independent, Resource, Task

the world is beautiful

1 Comment

Albert Renger-Patzsch (June 22, 1897 – September 27, 1966) was a German photographer associated with the New Objectivity. He was born in Würzburg and began making photographs by age twelve. In the early 1920s, he worked as a press photographer for the Chicago Tribune before becoming a freelancer and published a book in 1925, The choir stalls of Cappenberg. He had his first museum exhibition in 1927. A second book followed in 1928, Die Welt ist schön (The World is Beautiful). His best-known book is a collection of one hundred of his photographs in which natural forms, industrial subjects and mass-produced objects are presented.

The New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) was an art movement of the 1920s and early 1930s. It was in part a response to WW1, which had left many people feeling devastated by the worldwide poverty and destruction left in the wake of the war. The movement began in Germany, with George Grosz, Otto Dix and Kathe Kollwitz being some of the most notable participants. Documentary photography became increasing popular, as artists found it to be the ideal way to capture an ‘objective reality’. They used the art form to show off gritty subjects from real life, and to express the truth of their surroundings in a post – war world.

Albert Ranger – Patzsch | The World is Beautiful

IMAGE ANALYSIS

The bridges between the buildings in this photograph create geometric triangle shapes which draws the viewer’s eye to all the blank negative space in between them. The lines created by the buildings are very clear and sharp, which contrasts with the background of the photograph, which is blurry and organic in its shape. The tone of this image is fairly bright, with the white sky being plain and without any shadows. Additionally, the colour of the sky contrasts to the dark and harsh lines of the building. Patzsch has used natural lighting in this photograph, as you can see the natural shadows cast on the side of the building. Repetition is clearly shown in this photograph, as the panes of glass in the many windows create a repetitive pattern across the entire image. Also, the bricks in the side of the building closest to the camera are clearly visible, making another repeating pattern. The black and white colours are both evenly shown, with one not overpowering the other. This creates a more balanced photograph and makes it more appealing to the viewer’s eye, as they are able to focus on one colour without being overwhelmed by the other.

MY RESPONSE – CONTACT SHEETS

My thought process for this photoshoot was to take inspiration from Patzsch and his way of photographing things that would normally be considered boring or dull. For example, I took pictures of the corners that connect the walls in my house and the cutlery in my kitchen drawers. Although the objects in my photographs appear to be random, I thought carefully about what I was taking pictures of, and about how I could make them look more interesting by using distance, light and composition. Throughout the shoot, I experimented with different technical elements such as numerous angles and tone, and I tried not to take the same picture twice ( I wanted to keep all my photographs different from each other ). I took photographs of anything that caught my eye, and wasn’t looking to make my images ‘perfect’. I attempted to link Patzsch’s work on The New Objectivity to my own photographs by researching and reading about his intentions and his processes.

BEST IMAGES

FINAL IMAGE

I chose the photograph as my final image because I think that it reflects Patzsch’s work the most accurately. The contrast in the colour between the bright sky and the dark, harsh tones of the scaffolding imitate Patzsch’s composition in his images. The straight lines across the photograph create geometric shapes which deviate from the more natural, organic configuration of the trees in the background. Additionally, this photograph has a lot of depth to it, making it more aesthetically pleasing for the viewer to look at. I wanted to use natural lighting in order to keep the essence of The New Objectivity, as the movement is about capturing the world as you see it. I also thought carefully about the compositional features, such as the my angles and the distance of the subject from the camera. I did this so I could create and interesting photograph. In order to get the black and white effect, I used a feature on my phone which placed a filter on all of my images.

Independent, Task

The World Is Beautiful

1 Comment

Albert Renger-Patzsch

Albert Renger-Patszch (1897-1966) was a German photographer associated with The New Objectivity. In the early 1920’s he worked as a press photographer for the Chicago Tribune before becoming a freelancer. Patzsch published his first book entitled The Choir Stalls Of Cappenberg in 1925, and has his first museum exhibition in 1927.

In 1928, Patzsch published his second, best known, book The World Is Beautiful- which is a collection of one hundred of his photographs in which natural forms, industrial subjects and mass-produced objects are presented with the clarity of scientific illustrations. These types of subjects are what Patzsch thrived to photograph.

The New Objectivity was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. Patzsch’s work fits with this movement because he believed that the value of photography was in its ability to reproduce the texture of reality, and to represent the essence of an object. He wrote that the secret of a good photograph is it’s realism, he wanted people to ‘leave art to the artists’ and ‘endeavour to create photographs which will last because of their photographic qualities.’ Artists such as Max Beckmann, Christian Schad and Otto Dix were also part of The New Objectivity movement.

Patzsch Photo Gallery

Patzsch’s photographs are monochrome, using very harsh dark and light tones, with high contrast and low exposure. He uses lots of repetition in his images with industrial buildings and nature, showing elements of the world in their natural forms. Patzsch also takes his photos from many abstract positions, some extremely close to the subject, some from below, he uses a wide range of camera angles and zoom. Many of his photos have a rough spiked texture due to the business of his images and the detailed subjects in them.

Patzsch Photo Comparison

These two images are from Albert Renger-Patzsch’s collection ‘The World Is Beautiful.’ In the first image we can see a gloomy forest filled with tall trees, a representation of nature. However in the second image the subjects are imposing industrial towers, clearly man-made. Also, both images are edited with a monochrome, unsaturated filter- a staple of Patzsch’s photography. One similarity we can see in these images is the repetition of cylindrical objects. In the first image, the trees in the forest are unique with twisted branches and of different shapes and sizes. Contrastingly, the towers in the second image are repeated, however in a uniformed manor with identical structures and shapes. Additionally, the towers look almost like tree trunks themselves, linking to The New Objectivity and the idea that nature is being ruined and replaced by man-made industrial buildings and objects. Moreover, the subjects in both images are not fully in shot, as the frame cuts off the tops of the trees and towers, which connotes the idea that man cannot fully see the damage they have done to the world, they are oblivious.

Nevertheless, there are also many differences between these two Patzsch images. For example, the photos are taken from very opposite camera angles, the first from an eye-level medium shot and the second from a low angle medium shot. The first image’s angle shows nature surrounded by more and more nature, suggesting the power of the environment is fundamentally superior to mankind. However, the angle of the second image paints the industrial towers as intimidating, looking down on everything below them, implying man is always watching. Furthermore, we can see a significant difference in the depth of field in the images. The first clearly has more depth, as we can see trees going far back disappearing into the mist. The second has certainly got depth, however the focal point of the middle tower draws the observers attention, so not much else can be seen in the background. Additionally, the images have contrasting lighting, with the first having much more muted highlights and the second having very bright over-exposed highlights in the background. Patzsch could have purposefully done this to symbolise how nature is being forgotten and ‘muted’ in our minds, whereas industrial buildings and man-made factories thrive while destroying our environment.

My Response – Contact Sheets

In this first shoot, I photographed industrial buildings around the island that I believed best linked to Patzsch’s work. I focused on capturing man-made buildings and objects, looking at the range of tone and texture created by metal and stone. I also looked for repetition of buildings, windows and fences to add more rhythm to my images as Patzsch does.

In my second shoot, I captured elements of nature to link to Patzsch’s photography of the environment. I focused on photographing abstract flowers with rough and soft textures, tall trees with twisted branches and insects that symbolise the beauty of nature.

Final Edited Photos

Final Images

I have chosen these three images as my final evaluation because I believe the nature photos compliment each other well, while contrasting strongly with the industrial. Firstly, I love the high contrast of all these images and the sharp central focal point they all hold. I like the way both of the flower images have a circular shape, I believe the rounded perimeter’s of the subjects help to draw the observer’s attention and focus to the centre of the image. I also believe this contrasts with the second image as it contains more straight lines and geometrical shapes- clearly man made. Next, I really enjoy the repetition of the petals and flowers in image 1 and 3, I think it links well to Patzsch’s work on The New Objectivity. Additionally, I think the natural photos compliment the industrial as both have harsh dark tones and bright highlights. However, in the background of the first and last image, there are dark tones and shadows which enhance the white highlights of the flowers, painting them as clean and pure. Yet, in the industrial image, the bright highlights are in the background creating a dark silhouette of the structure. I chose to photograph this building in such a way to reflect Patzsch’s intimidating industrial images and to contrast with the purity of the environment. The camera angle of this image is also from below the subject which alludes to the idea of man looking down on society.

Independent, Reading, Task

the world is beautiful

1 Comment

 Albert Renger-Patszch

Albert Renger-Patszch was a German photographer born in 1897 and later died in 1966. Renger-Patszch began his photography career at the early age of twelve, and got his first job in photography in the early 1920’s for the Chicago Tribune. He opened his first photography exhibition 1927 and produced his second book, “The World is Beautiful”, in 1928. This book focused on the aspect of New Objectivity, a German movement as a reaction against expressionism. “The World is Beautiful” displays one hundred of Renger-Patszch’s best photographs which focus on natural forms, industrial subjects and mass-produced objects. Like Edward Weston, in the United States, Renger-Patszch believed that the value of photography was in its ability to reproduce the texture of reality, and to represent the essence of an object.

Albert Renger-Petzsch’s iconic black and white work could be compared to the work of Ansel Adams, who’s career in photography was also relevant at the time of Renger-Petzsch’s work. The main similarity they share is the uniformed, black an white theme, which allows the viewer to focus on the shape, pattern and lighting rather than the colours.

“Mount Williamson, Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, CA” – Ansel Adams (1944)

Photo Analysis

Contextual:

This image, named “Fungi Lepiota Procera” was featured in Albert Renger-Patszch’s famous book: “The World is Beautiful”. It is a photograph from his botanical study is of the underside of a mushroom found in woods and pastures within the northern hemisphere.

Conceptual:

“Fungi Lepiota Procera” was taken as a part of Albert’s famous publication in 1928 which contained 100 of his best images that focused on the New Objectivity movement. The purpose of this publication as a whole was to disregard old-fashioned expressionism and to explore the universality of both natural and man made life throughout the world. Essentially, the Renger-Patszch’s idea was to capture the mundane everyday objects and bring their beauty to light by cropping sections of the image and adding a sleek monochrome tone.

Technical:

I believe artificial lighting was used for this image as the photo is of high quality and bold shadows are created. The harsh lighting creates a clear contrast between light and dark within the lines which is exaggerated by the monochromatic effect. the lighting is coming from straight ahead as the shadows aren’t cast in a particular direction and they are all rather even around the surface. The photo is quite flat as there is no background to compare depth against the focal point, and the whole image is in focus, so it is hard to tell if there is a narrow or large depth of field.

Visual :

A pattern of repetition is the main focus of this image, with the repeating lines pointing towards the centre of the mushroom to create a focal point, that being the stalk of the mushroom. the focal point is in the centre third of the image and the other two thirds are taken up by the fine lines leading from the stalk. There is no colour in this photo which accentuates the intense shadows in between the contrasting, white lines

“The World is Beautiful” inspired photoshoot:

I feel like the images in green are my more successful photos as they display better patterns of line and repetition, like the ones seen in Albert Renger-Patszch’s work.

I don’t feel like the images highlighted in red are as successful as my other images because they don’t show repetition or patterns of lines like the work of Renger-Patszch, and for a couple of the images the lighting is too over-exposed. I think these images are less relevant to the subject of “New Objectivity”.

Photoshop Development:

For the first edit, I took a close-up photo of a hydrangea and cropped a section that I felt was the most interesting, with a repetition of curved lines. I used the invert tool to change the shadows and highlights and then changed the image to fit the monochromatic theme of Renger-Patzsch’s work.

For the second and third edits, I cropped what I felt like was the focal point of two succulents and used the monochrome filter to fit Renger-Patzsch’s black and white theme. These two photos are more relevant to the theme of New Objectivity as they display clearer patterns, texture and repetition.

I used natural lighting in these photos to prove the true, natural beauty of the subjects in their natural form. I chose to focus on Renger-Patzsch’s photographs on natural forms, as I felt the patterns and repetitions produced by nature are more interesting to the viewer as they are not man-made, therefore there is less explanation to the way they look which, in my opinion, makes them more beautiful.

Independent, Reading, Task

The World Is Beautiful

1 Comment
New Objectivity by Albert Renger-Patzsch (686PH) — Atlas of Places

Albert Renger-Patzsch
– Renger-Patzsch was born in Wurzburg, on June 22nd, 1897. He was German photographer who began making photos at the age of twelve.

– In 1928 Reger-Patzsch published The World Is Beautiful, a collection of 100 images, which had lots of detail, mostly patterns in nature and man made structures.

– He likes to take photos of highly detailed and complex flowers and other nature plants. Additionally, he prefers to take photos of unique architecture.

– His nature photography captures what the eye can’t see. He captures each fold in and every detail in each picture.

– Renger-Patzsch makes his images black and white, which gives the image a high contrast, and reveals the tones more.

– The black and white makes it so that you focus on the geometric patterns rather than the colours.

– Lots of Renger-Patzsch’s images use leading lines, framing, repetition and rhythm. Which gives off a more visually pleasing image.

Image Comparison
– Both these images were taken by Albert Renger-Patzsch.

  • Firstly, the trees are natural and randomly positioned, where as the spades are carefully positioned.
  • There is more depth in the photo with the trees, as it fog makes the trees fade away.
  • The photo with the trees uses natural light, where as the photo of the spades is most likely artificial light.
  • Both photos have repetition of the subject.
  • The whole of each spade is in shot, however in the other photo, the top of the trees are cut off, this shows how big the trees are in comparison to the spades.

My Photos

Architectural Photos
– Firstly, I took photos of buildings that have detailed symmetry and patterns from the windows.
– I made sure that the sky was in all of them and i commonly used the line of thirds technique to make them to create a unique appearance.

Nature Photos
– I used a macro lens to get a close up shot of the objects I photographed. It made it so you can see every detail on the focus.
– It created a shallow depth of field, as I used a low f/number. This makes us focus on a specific object as the background is blurred.
– I took lots of photos of leaves as there have many natural patterns. Also, I took a close up of a feather, which as a repeated pattern with smaller lines coming off the central line.

Overall I made all the photos black and white, as it is in the style of Albert Renger-Patschz. The black and white effect, created a high contrast and made all the patterns more visible.