Although the title "German Photography" may sound like an assertion, it is actually intended as a question: Given the many and varied influences to which Germany has been exposed in the course of this century, is there such a thing as German photography? This is the question addressed by both the exhibition and the catalogue and explored in an extensive selection of works by twentieth century German photographers.
The book offers a representative overview of developments in photography up until 1970, with some 420 examples from the realms of architecture, art, photojournalism, fashion, design, and advertising by more than 150 individual photographers. It begins with the period around 1870, when the medium of photography began to exert a mass influence, and ends around 1970, when television gradually assumed important functions in the mediation of information, thus altering the concept and role of photogra-phy worldwide.
This volume not only examines the aesthetic features of "German Photography", but also provides a first systematic review of the history of German photography by renowned historians and photography specialists.