August Sander: People of the 20th Century

August Sander (born in Herdorf, Germany, 1876; died in Cologne, 1964) is lauded as one the most important portrait photographers of the twentieth century. From a farming and mining community east of Cologne, Sander first discovered photography at the local mine, while helping to carry the equipment of a company photographer. He went on to become involved with many of the avant-garde artistic ideas of his day, including the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), a movement led by his friend, the painter Otto Dix, which espoused realism and social commentary in art. He is best known for his series People of the 20th Century, which captured German society in an unflinching, typological approach that shaped the medium and has gone on to influence generations of artists.

Gabriele Conrath-Scholl is director of Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, which includes the August Sander Archive. She studied visual arts under Bernd Becher and art history at the Kunstakademie Dsseldorf. She is the author of numerous publications and has curated various exhibitions devoted to August Sander, as well as Bernd and Hilla Becher, Karl Blossfeldt, Hans Eijkelboom, Francesco Neri, Judith Joy Ross, Rosalind Solomon, and Thomas Struth.

Susanne Lange is an art historian based in Cologne, specializing in conceptual photography. Lange formerly served as the director of Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne. She wrote her dissertation on the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher and has authored numerous publications on August Sander, as well as William Christenberry, Marcel Broodthaers, and Jeff Wall.