New Objectivity Photography

新即物主義写真 / 1920s–1930s / Style / Photography Movements

Steps back from sentiment and records the structure of people and things coolly: sharp focus, frontality, typology.

New Objectivity Photography — Plant photograph by Blossfeldt — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
Plant photograph by Blossfeldt — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
New Objectivity Photography — From Blossfeldt Urformen der Kunst 1928 — Wikimedia Commons / CC0
From Blossfeldt Urformen der Kunst 1928 — Wikimedia Commons / CC0 · CC0

At a glance

Visual cues

  • Sharp focus
  • Frontality
  • Repetition and types
  • Material detail

Best used for

  • Photographing trades or buildings under one condition to make them comparable
  • Showing the detail of a product or a part precisely and without sentiment

Use this style

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Dictionary entry

Type
No headlines, only the subject name and conditions in one fixed format
Composition
Frontal, level, centered, with the same background every time
Material
Deep depth of field, even overcast light, fine grained printing
Caution
One frame is no typology, and without matched conditions it ends as a pile of expressionless pictures. Do not trust the pose of objectivity, and read the bias that classification and viewpoint produce.
Further study
August Sander / Albert Renger-Patzsch / Aenne Biermann

Related entries

Often confused with

More from Photography Movements

Continue through styles in the same Photography Movements family, prioritised by shared effects.

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Cite this entry

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Link
https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-objectivity-photography
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[New Objectivity Photography — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-objectivity-photography)
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<a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-objectivity-photography">New Objectivity Photography — IndexStyle</a>

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