In 1929, Herbert List began photographing the young men he knew and travelled with across Greece, Italy, and Germany. Twin Palms Publishers issued that body of work in January 1988 as Junge Männer: a large-format hardcover of 112 pages carrying 72 gravure plates, with an introduction by Sir Stephen Spender. The pictures hold to the composure and physical presence of their subjects, and List sets certain figures beside fragments of Greek statuary, drawing a line between the living body and the sculptural ideal it recalls.

The project begins at the end of the 1920s, giving these images of youth a particular historical starting point. A reader can consider the encounter between a living figure and a classical ideal without reducing either to a simple illustration of the other. List’s camera stays close to the men, attentive to stance, sunlight, and the ease of bodies at rest, and the images accumulate into a sustained monographic gathering rather than a portrait series.

The edition is substantial in scale, published at 11 x 14 inches, with 72 gravure plates. Spender provides the introduction. The subjects recorded in the book are catalogued under art, photography, portraits, and related themes.

Junge Männer gathers work from the period that begins in 1929, the early photographs of young men made in Greece, Italy, and Germany. It stands as a coherent monographic collection rather than a survey of List’s whole output. The introduction by Spender accompanies the plates, giving a written contribution a place alongside List’s photographs.