The Absolute Realist: Collected Writings of Albert Renger-Patzsch, 1923-1967

by Albert Renger-Patzsch, Daniel H. Magilow (Translator)

Overview

This annotated anthology presents the first English translation of German photographer Albert Renger-Patzsch’s collected writings.
 
A towering figure in the history of photography, Albert Renger-Patzsch (1897-1966) has come to epitomize New Objectivity, the neorealist movement in modernist literature, film, and the visual arts recognized as the signature artistic style of Germany’s Weimar Republic. Today, his images are regularly exhibited and widely considered key influences on contemporary photographers. Whether they capture geometrically intricate cacti, flooded tidal landscapes, stacks of raw materials, or imposing blast furnace towers, Renger-Patzsch’s photographs embody what his peer Hugo Sieker termed “absolute realism,” an approach predicated upon the idea that photographers have one task: to exploit the camera’s unique capacity to document with uncompromising detail.
 
Not only a photographer, Renger-Patzsch was also an influential and lucid writer who advocated his unique brand of uncompromising realism in almost a half century’s worth of articles, essays, lectures, brochures, and unpublished manuscripts addressing photography, technology, and modernity. Drawing on his papers at the Getty Research Institute and other archives, The Absolute Realist unites in one volume this skillful photographer’s ideas about the defining visual medium of modernity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781606067802
Publisher:	Getty Publications
Publication date:	01/03/2023
Pages:	340
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Daniel H. Magilow is professor of German at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments viii

Note to the Reader ix

Special Thanks xi

Introduction: Albert Renger-Patzsch, the Absolute Realist Daniel H. Magilow 1

Published Writings, 1923-1942 37

Plant Photographs (1923) 39

On Photographing Flowers 43

Animal Photos with the Meyer Plasmat 48

Plant Photographs (ca. 1925) 55

The Details along the Way 63

On Photographing Sculptural Artworks 65

Heretical Thoughts on Artistic Photography 71

Winter Photography and Snowshoeing 77

Cactus Photographs 81

Photographs of Children 85

Photographic Studies in the Plant Kingdom 89

The Landscape Photographer in Winter 92

Photography and Art 97

Nature as Artist 101

Aims 104

Some Remarks on Hands and Hand Photographs 107

New Perspectives of the Camera 109

Joy before the Object 114

My Book about the Halligen 117

"Hold Still!": Martin Munkacsi and Albert Renger-Patzsch on Amateur Photography 120

Some Tips from Renger-Patzsch, Photographer 126

Postscript to Photo-Inflation / Boom Times 128

On Photography's Essence: From a Letter 131

The Limits of the Photographic 134

The Camera and Landscape Photography 141

Violating the Landscape Is Forbidden 145

Masters of the Camera Tell How: A. Renger-Patzsch 149

Work-Photo 154

Sylt-The Image of an Island: Landscape as Document 159

I Photograph… 166

On the Limits of Photography: From Essays by Albert Renger-Patzsch 171

Interlude: The Mystery of Albert Renger-Patzsch, the Third Reich, and National Socialism Daniel H. Magilow 175

Published Writings, 1950-1967 191

An Escape from the Chaos: Some Thoughts on the Situation of Photography Today 193

Thoughts on Professional Photography 197

Editorial Note 199

An Attempt to Classify Photography (1953) 201

"It was a glorious time!" 205

An Attempt to Classify Photography (1958) 206

Where Does Photography Stand Today? 220

What about Landscape? 235

A Conceptual Definition of "Photography" 237

Architect and Photographer 239

On the Limits of the Trade: Can Photography Represent a Type? 247

The Standard Format of the Future (and "Discouragingly Good!" and "You're Not…Getting the Picture") 252

World Exhibition of Photography 255

On Photography's Significance and the Photographer's Responsibility 259

A Lecture Never Delivered 268

In memoriam: Albert Renger-Patzsch / The Amateur and the Object 273

Unpublished Writings 277

Editorial Note 278

Some Remarks on Portrait Photography, on Hands and Hand Portraits 279

On the Care of Cacti 282

Mankind-In Technology's Thrall-Is Destroying His Own Home 285

Expert Witness Opinion 290

Photographs of Spare Parts 293

Photographic Murder 296

Untitled ["That which we call landscape…"] 299

Photogenic 303

Untitled ["It's rare that one can create a completely verisimilar portrait…"] 306

On Architectural Photographs 309

Untitled ["Autobiography can only be of general interest…"] 313

For Further Reading 317

About the Editor and Translator 319

Index 320

Editorial Reviews

Daniel H. Magilow’s careful translation and thorough annotation of Albert Renger-Patzsch’s writings offer an invaluable invitation: For the very first time, we can discover one of the most influential photographers of the modern era as an eminent theorist and attentive critic. This excellent edition will undoubtedly advance our interest in a period when the art of photography became not just a subject for professionals but an affair for countless amateurs.” 
—Steffen Siegel, editor of First Exposures: Writings from the Beginning of Photography

“Albert Renger-Patzsch has long been known as a giant of early twentieth-century photography. Thanks to Daniel Magilow's deft editing and translations, an English-speaking public can now learn what a savvy critic and theorist of photography he was as well.”

—Pepper Stetler, author of Stop Reading! Look!: Modern Vision and the Weimar Photographic Book

“Daniel H. Magilow brings both a wealth of knowledge and precision to The Absolute Realist—qualities that Albert Renger-Patzsch himself prized. In addition to his astute translations, Magilow offers a fresh and nuanced reading of the photographer’s most prominent years. He underscores the tension between consistency and breadth across almost a half century of thought in ways that make this collection of the German modernist’s writings especially relevant for readers today.”

—Matthew S. Witkovsky, Sandor Chair and Curator of Photography, Art Institute of Chicago

“As the first complete collection of Albert Renger-Patzsch’s writings, The Absolute Realist brings one of the twentieth century’s most significant photographers into focus as a writer and theorist. Gorgeously illustrated with Renger-Patzsch’s photographs—which are by turns hauntingly beautiful, sublime, and downright funny—Daniel H. Magilow’s crisp translations and insightful commentary shed new light on Renger-Patzsch’s life and work during Germany’s most tumultuous decades.”

—Elizabeth Otto, Professor of Art History, University at Buffalo (SUNY)

“For photography lovers as well as researchers, The Absolute Realist: Collected Writings of Albert Renger-Patzsch, 1923-1967, edited and translated by Daniel H. Magilow, is undoubtedly a valuable addition to the bookshelf. Magilow’s sensitive translation and knowledgeable scholarly introduction allow rare insight into the German photographer‘s work and thought during the explosive period of National Socialism, and ultimately make for an exceptionally exciting read. Highly recommended.”
—Gabriele Conrath-Scholl, Director, Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne 

From the Publisher