Das Chorgestühl von Kappenberg (Kunstwerke. Eine Buchfolge, I. Band)
Friedrichssegen/Lahn: Folkwang-Auriga, 1925. First edition, second state binding. Hardcover. Quarto (9 3/4" x 7 1/4"; 24,5cm x 18cm). Original tan printed paper covered boards. First book published by Albert Renger-Patzsch, the renown German photographer associated with the New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit.) Having practised photography since his teens, he took it up professionally after studying chemistry in Dresden (1919-21), and in the mid-1920s published books on animals and natural forms and medieval choir stalls. He became committed to a form of documentary realism that separated him decisively from both pictorialism and the experimental ‘art photography’ of the avant-garde. Photography's supreme capability, he believed, was to capture the form and detail of organic and man-made objects with unequalled clarity and precision. Visual rhetoric and ‘creative’ distortion had no part in it. Tight, head-on composition, deep focus, diffused lighting, and close-ups were its tools. His approach was epitomized by his internationally acclaimed book "Die Welt ist schön" ("The World is Beautiful," 1928.) First of this edition, after published in two different size b/w covers. Moderate age wear on binding with age toning along edges. Minor shelf wear. Upper part of pages slightly rippled throughout. Text in German. Binding in overall good+, interior in good+ to very good condition. vg. Item #30870
Price: $250.00