(RAR) Germans rule the (photo)world - 1929 to present

As evidence I present this pair of exhibitions from The Getty:


August Sander: People of the Twentieth Century
May 6–September 14, 2008


Bernd & Hilla Becher: Basic Forms
May 6–September 14, 2008

If you're into photo-art, you probably know: Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, Candida Hofer, and/or Andreas Gursky. And likely you know several folks listed here: Catherine Opie, Rineke Dijkstra, Richard Ross, Chris Jordan, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Edward Burtynsky, Joel Sternfeld, Robbert Flick, Philip-Lorca diCorcia and/or Richard Avedon.

The truth of the matter is that most of the important conceptual photographers of the past 2 decades owe a major debt to August Sander and (more directly) to Bernd & Hilla Becher. Together these avant-garde German photographers pioneered a new method of using creative photography as a means of systematicaly studying their subjects. And both Sander and the Bechers had expansive life-long projects that are both socially important and aesthetically inspiring.

Sander worked in the late 1920's and through the 1930's to document all archetypes of the German every-man; and the Nazis burned his images for not buying into their agenda of racial superiority, due to his honest and uncritical depictions of all people. His expansive project of vocational archetypes laid the groundwork for the Bechers to build upon when they entered the art scene and began their own projects photographing architectural archetypes from about 1959 through to the near-present (Bernd just passed away last year).

Fortunately for you...
You can go see both of these major projects on display now at The Getty!
This is the best way to see either Sander or the Bechers' work, and to see both together is absolutely amazing!

Returning to my list above...
Gursky, Hofer, Ruff, and Struth are all German photographers who studied directly under Bernd & Hilla Becher in Duesseldorf. Collectively they have defined a distictively "Becher school" style. Subsequently this distinctive approach to photography has had a significant influence on photographers world wide, as evidenced in the work of the other ten important artists listed above.

Go now.