Assessment of August Sander’s Techniques

This piece exercise looks in detail at the images created by August Sander as part of his project “People of the Twentieth Century”.  In his work, Sander adopted typology to classify people into one of seven categories:  ‘The Farmer’, ‘The Skilled Tradesman’, ‘The Woman’, ‘Classes and Professions’, ‘The Artists’, ‘The City’ and ‘The Last People’ (Tate, n.d.)

My study in this exercise is not to evaluate the images themselves in terms of the people that they portray but instead to look at the technical construct of his images and identify some particular themes.

Depth of Field

Two examples of Sander’s images are shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.

It can be seen in both images that a shallow depth of field has been used.  The images are shot so that the viewer is able to see what the background is and gain some understanding of the person from it but it is blurred so that it is clear that the main purpose of the image is the person in the shot that is sharp.

For example in Fig. 2 The girl shown is a farmer’s child.  She is shown in the countryside at what looks to be a gate onto a country establishment.  As the girl is shown standing in the gateway itself, one might assume that the girl comes from the establishment, the farm perhaps.  These parts are sharp, the girl and the gate.  But then the countryside is seen behind her to provide context, but blurred so as not to detract from the scrutiny of the girl.

Position of Horizon in relation to the Person

In Fig. 2 it can be seen that the horizon in the image is about level with the subject’s head, the same is true in Fig. 3.

Whilst not all of Sander’s images contain a horizon, when they do have one, it is always positioned so that the subject’s head is close to the horizon line. 

Specifically, when the subject is an adult, as in Fig. 3, the subject’s head is usually just above the horizon, and when the subject is a child, as in Fig. 2, just below the horizon. This technique seems to emphasise the difference in size between adults and children and is perhaps a typology all of its own even though it is not explicitly used as a classification in its own right by Sander.

Consistency of Composition within a type

As stated above. Sander used typology to group people.  Within that grouping, there is a consistency of the way in which the images are framed. 

In Fig.1 and Fig. 2 both come from the same group, The Farmer, and both images are framed in a very similar way.  Fig. 3 is also from the same group and framed in the same similar manner.

By contrast, Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 both come from the classification of The Skilled Worker. 

The construct of the two images is the same, but is totally different to that of the images from The Farmer classification.  Here there is no distant background for context,  now the background seems less important and is in fact totally absent in Fig. 4.  Instead, the images are strongly focussed on the individual and on something the individual is holding or next to which indicates that profession that person follows.

This technique creates the feeling of a stronger grouping within the type even though the individuals within that group are not particularly related to each other apart from the classification that Sander has invented.  Because of the technique, one can almost identify the type that the image comes from purely by looking at the construct of the image rather than the content itself.

My Interpretation

The subject of my images is my mother-in-law, Chanrdrakala Kotak. Chandra comes from an Indian background in which food, or the production of it for any visitor is a significant tradition. Because of this, one cannot pay her a visit without large amounts of traditional Indian food being thrust upon you; which is a great reason to visit!

Given this behaviour I wanted to capture Chandra in the kitchen. The exercise is asks for the background of the image to provide context for the subject. In my chosen image, the kitchen can be seen, the background is out of focus so that it does not distract from the person, but it is still possible to determine that the location is the kitchen

In addition to the background, Chandra is wearing a cooking apron and one can just see that there is some form of vegetables in her hands. Although this goes further than just using the background for context, it is still a technique that was used by Sander in some of his images, particularly his portrayal of the type “Skilled Workers”. This seems appropriate as the cooking involved is very skilful.

My selected image (see Fig. 6.) is chosen because I feel that it gives a good balance of subject size versus amount of background that can be seen.

By contrast, in my contact sheet (see Fig. 7.) one can see that Chandra-6 shows virtually no background whereas Chandra-1 there is much more background visible but I feel that it distracts from the subject.

I think the image is successful in what. set out to achieve but that it has relied on more than just background to achieve that success.

My Selected Image

My Contact Sheet

Bibliography

Tate. (n.d.). Five things to know: August Sander – List | Tate. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/august-sander-5319/lists/five-things-know-august-sander [Accessed 29 May 2019].

Figures

Figure 1. Sander, A. (1921). Village Schoolteacher. [image] Available at: http://lightshadefx.com/artists/sander/showcase.php?i=1921%20-%20Village%20Schoolteacher,%20by%20August%20Sander.jpg [Accessed 29 May 2019].

Figure 2. Sander, A. (1919). Farmer’s Child. [image] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/august-sander-5319/lists/five-things-know-august-sander [Accessed 29 May 2019].

Figure 3. Sanders, A. (1914). Young Farmers. [image] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/august-sander-5319 [Accessed 29 May 2019].

Figure 4.  Sander, A. (1928). Bricklayer. [image] Available at: http://www.partisanmagazine.com/reviews/2016/5/19/rm17zcmcejrz3a140x6c5zfv7yocgi [Accessed 29 May 2019].

Figure 5. Sander, A. (1930). Blacksmith. [image] Available at: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/114343/blacksmith-about-1930 [Accessed 29 May 2019].

Figure 6. Wilkinson, A. (2019) Chandrakala Kotak, 2019 [image] In: possession of: The author: London.

Figure 7. Wilkinson, A. (2019) Chandra Contact Sheet, 2019 [image] In: possession of: The author: London.