Photographers

August Sander (1876–1964) was a German portrait and documentary photographer whose monumental project *People of the 20th Century* established him as one of the most influential figures in the history of photographic portraiture. Working with remarkable precision and sobriety, Sander sought to produce a comprehensive sociological portrait of German society, photographing people across professions, social classes, and regions. His work is a cornerstone of the New Objectivity movement, defined by clarity, neutrality, and an unembellished depiction of reality.

Born in Herdorf, Sander discovered photography while working in the mining industry and later trained as an assistant in photographic studios across Germany and Austria. After opening his own studio in Linz and later relocating to Cologne, he began the portrait series that would become *People of the 20th Century*. He organized the work into thematic groups—including farmers, artisans, women, professionals, artists, city dwellers, and “the last people”—aiming to document the structure and diversity of German life during the Weimar Republic. His book *Face of Our Time* (1929) represented an early selection from the project and remains one of the most significant photobooks of the 20th century.

Sander’s work faced suppression during the Nazi era—*Face of Our Time* was seized and its printing plates destroyed—and his own life was marked by tragedy when his son, Erich, was imprisoned for socialist activities and died in custody in 1944. Nevertheless, Sander continued to photograph landscapes, nature, and the German countryside while safeguarding much of his archive. Despite damage and loss during wartime, the majority of his negatives survived. In 1960 he received the Order of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany. The complete realization of *People of the 20th Century* was published posthumously, securing Sander’s legacy as one of the most important portrait photographers of the modern era.