Antlitz der Zeit: Sechzig Aufnahmen Deutscher Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts

München: Transmare Verlag, 1929. First edition. Hardcover. g+ to near fine. Quarto. 60pp. Original dustjacket over yellow cloth with small illustration stamped in black to front cover, housed in a modern black cloth clamshell box with gray edges, gilt lettering and ruling on black leather label of spine. Illustrated with full-page reproductions of b/w photographs of 1920's German contemporary society by portrait and documentary photographer August Sander (1876-1964). Foreword by Alfred Döblin. In this study, containing 60 images, Sander captured the multifaceted nature of the German people. As a result of this, during the Nazi regime, he was prohibited from producing portrait photography and subsequently turned to landscapes. In 1936, Antlitz der Zeit was seized by the National Socialists and the photographic plates were destroyed. "Der Auswahlband 'Antlitz der Zeit' gewährt einen kleinen Einblick in die Art des Sanderschen Sehens von Menschen und Festhaltens von Menschen. Er kann naturgemäß nur einen schwachen Begriff von dem außerordentlichen Ausmaß der Sanderschen Gesamtleistung vermitteln. Was er aber zeigen kann, ist vor allem die seltene Fähigkeit des Photographen, die Menschen, die er vor sein Objektiv bringt, zu lösen, jede Pose und Maske auszuschließen, sie vielmehr in einem vollkommen natürlichen, selbstverständlichen Bilde zu fixieren." (The selection 'Antlitz der Zeit' offers some insight into the way Sanders sees human being and how to capture them in a photograph. Naturally it can convey only a small part of the tremendous scale of Sander's overall achievement. What it can show is most of all the rare ability of the photographer, to get people in front of his camera, relax them, eliminate all posing and masks, and fixate them in an absolute natural picture). Antlitz der Zeit contains portraits from Sander's series "Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts" (People of the 20th Century). Text in German. DJ with light wear long edges, one inch closed tear at top of front cover and minor closed tear next to it. Three small bumps at binding, one at tail of spine, the others at lower back cover. Dj in overall good+, binding in very good, interior in near fine condition. (Inventory #: 43605)