Jocko
03-25-2007, 09:41
....Was arguably Paul Wolff. A big claim, but one I think is justified - and which, more importantly, reminds us of a neglected photographer whose work remains both relevant and inspirational.
Wolff(1887-1951) won one of the very earliest Leicas in a competion and became perhaps the most enthusiastic public advocate of 35mm photography. His classic My First 10 Years with the Leica (1934) created a sensation and his many subsequent, massively illustrated, books dealt with 35mm colour photography and a huge range of specific themes.
Wolff was a pioneer, technically and stylistically, but not one intent on carving out some lonely creative niche. The message in his work is that the mundane is astonishingly beautiful and that everyone could learn to create exquisite images with the new 35mm technology. Capable of dazzling abstraction, he was also the most intimate and humane of photographers. Much of his work remains astonishingly modern, marked by that indefinable quality which characterises classic rangefinder pictures.
Someone once said that philosophy consists of footnotes to Plato. In a sense RF photography consists of reflections of Wolff: His were the images that convinced photographers that a new creative era had begun. They have been echoed unconsciously in our pictures ever since.
One more issue has to be addressed: Wolff was a German photographer in a tragic era. He used his pictures to quietly project his personal disgust for National Socialism and after the war worked for the Allied Military Government. He was not a Nazi.
Sadly there do not seem to be many Wolff images on-line, but original copies of his books are remarkably inexpensive and widely available from on-line booksellers such as http://www.zvab.com/SESSz10934356511174840677/gr2/de/index.html
and https://www.abebooks.co.uk/. This biblography is a great help - http://www.imagere.com/paulwolff/paulwolffbibliography.htm
Taking advantage of the 1944 declaration on copyright, here are 6 typical images to hopefully spark interest.... 3 here....
Wolff(1887-1951) won one of the very earliest Leicas in a competion and became perhaps the most enthusiastic public advocate of 35mm photography. His classic My First 10 Years with the Leica (1934) created a sensation and his many subsequent, massively illustrated, books dealt with 35mm colour photography and a huge range of specific themes.
Wolff was a pioneer, technically and stylistically, but not one intent on carving out some lonely creative niche. The message in his work is that the mundane is astonishingly beautiful and that everyone could learn to create exquisite images with the new 35mm technology. Capable of dazzling abstraction, he was also the most intimate and humane of photographers. Much of his work remains astonishingly modern, marked by that indefinable quality which characterises classic rangefinder pictures.
Someone once said that philosophy consists of footnotes to Plato. In a sense RF photography consists of reflections of Wolff: His were the images that convinced photographers that a new creative era had begun. They have been echoed unconsciously in our pictures ever since.
One more issue has to be addressed: Wolff was a German photographer in a tragic era. He used his pictures to quietly project his personal disgust for National Socialism and after the war worked for the Allied Military Government. He was not a Nazi.
Sadly there do not seem to be many Wolff images on-line, but original copies of his books are remarkably inexpensive and widely available from on-line booksellers such as http://www.zvab.com/SESSz10934356511174840677/gr2/de/index.html
and https://www.abebooks.co.uk/. This biblography is a great help - http://www.imagere.com/paulwolff/paulwolffbibliography.htm
Taking advantage of the 1944 declaration on copyright, here are 6 typical images to hopefully spark interest.... 3 here....