August Sander

 

Classic photographers

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These days, August Sander is my favourite photographer. He’s most well-known for his portraits which I find nothing but amazing. They’re even more amazing when you consider that when he started doing them this particular style of portaiture - something we take for granted now - was pretty much despised. People didn’t want to see their real faces, they wanted idealized portraits, and photographers spent a lot of time retouching their work. In the end, Sander ran into trouble when the Nazis came to power. His portraits simply didn’t agree with what the Nazis thought of the Germans, and, of course, they didn’t want to see gypsies or other “Untermenschen” portrayed.