August Sander: Men without Masks

Stunning exhibition at Hauser & Wirth of photographs by August Sander from 1910 to 1931.

 
This show was a wonderful evocation of Weimar Germany picturing people outdoors or in their workplaces not studio shots. They show interwar Germany during a period of transition. The early work comes from “Portfolio of Archetypes”, the start of his project to catalogue German society and reveal its ethnic and class diversity. In 1936 the Nazis confiscated copies of this first book “Face of Our Time” as it showed Jews, gypsies and homosexuals. The print plates were destroyed however the negatives were saved.
 
I loved the anonymity of the pictures and the affection with which the people are shown.  The pictures are left to speak for themselves with clothes, backgrounds and props giving an insight into who the people were. There was a lovely set of First World War veterans often shown begging on the streets. My favourite was a picture of a beautifully dressed camp man with a fur collar, bowler hat and elegant hands.
 
All the people look out at you very directly and it’s impossible not to wonder what happened to them all over the next 15 years. 
 
Closes on 28 July 2018
 
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