More Photographs By August Sander

~ beetleypete

I found some more of Sander’s interesting portaits online.

In the early 1920s Sander began People of the 20th Century – one of the most ambitious undertakings in the history of photography, the project occupied Sander for some 40 years, from the early 1920s until his death, during which he took portraits of hundreds of German citizens and then categorised them by social type and occupation.

A self-portrait of August Sandler.

A nightclub compere, 1930.

Small man born with a syndrome. Sander listed hin as ‘A Cretin’, 1924.

Blind girls studying at a special school, 1930.

A Police Officer, 1925.

Pastry Chef, 1928.

A Cafe Waitress, 1928.

Rural farm children with their dog, 1918.

Roadway workmen, 1928.

Middle-class woman and her child, 1926.

A Street Peddler, 1930.

47 thoughts on “More Photographs By August Sander”

  4. Fascinating photos of real people going about their lives! I wasn’t very familiar with Sander’s work, but now I want to see more. Looked him up on Wikipedia and found that his son was arrested by the Nazis, sentenced to 10 years in prison where he ultimately died. Thanks, Pete, for sharing these bits of history with us!

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  8. (1) August Sandler had a son named September. That was the beginning of the family’s fall. (Leaves a few questions, I admit.)
    (2) When a compère marries a commère, a host of problems arise.
    (3) After the Battle of Zela, Caesar decided to syndrome a message: Veni, vidi, vici. (This was no small victory. It was a decisive moment in his military career.)
    (4) Photographer: “I always take photos in the nude. But I see that doesn’t bother you girls in the least.”
    (5) I was going to say something about the police officer’s removable manhood, but he might arrest me.
    (6) Is that a bowl or a hat? (Maybe it’s a metal bowler hat?)
    (7) “When I’m at work, my name is Phyllis. But when I’m off work, I go by Terence. So what will it be: coffee, tea, or one of me?”
    (8) You didn’t mention the lovely doll. So, in a fit of indignation, she rode off on the horse.
    (9) “I thought this was a freeway job, but it’s just a three-way job.”
    (10) You didn’t mention the dog, so it ran away with the doll and the horse.
    (11) “I’m a street peddler. As soon as those three guys finish renovating Shad Thames, I’ll sell you some timeworn cobblestones at a discount.”

    NOTE: Somewhere between the police officer’s mustache and the street peddler’s mustaches there is a mustache of reasonable length.

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    1. Sander photographed a lot of circus performers and freak-show members. I suspect the ‘Cretin’ was one of those, Liz. It sounds very rude and insulting to call him that, to our modern sensibilities.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  10. Pingback: More Photographs By August Sander | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  14. I looked at some of his other photographs that you posted previously. There are some rather strange looking people but I wonder if it is partly that photography was comparatively new and people who posed were so stiff. Maybe in a hundred years people will think we all look bizarre.

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    1. Many of the people he photographed were not used to cameras, Carolyn. He would turn up on his bicycle and pose them, probably asking them to stand still and not to smile.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  16. That policeman was at some disadvantage with that moustache … Imagine some criminals grabbing that moustache and dragging the policeman to the local pier and throwing him into the Thames. LOL. I like the size of that tea cup on the waitress’ tray —Mr. Sandler could definitely use some work on his hair …and the street peddler reminds me of what Hitler would have looked like before cosmetic surgery. All-in-all a great selection of nostalgic photos and I thoroughly enjoyed looking at them. More, please.

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