The Influence of 'Americanism' on German Photography in the 20ies

The rewritten contribution from Molderings to the Symposium über Fotografie II,
Graz 1986. Molderings researched the sources of influence that gave rise to the
""Neue Sachlichkeit'' in Germany. His conclusion: ""It was not photographic
models that inspired German photographers but a much wider vision of America
that centered on economic and social life''. After WW I the American Dawes-plan
did support capitalism and social-democracy against left (and right) wing
revolutionary tendences. With this plan American ideologie did spread itself on
managerial but also on cultural and social level. Americanism: a romantization
of technology, the cult of the engineer, technical rationality became something
of a religion. Molderings reviews some illustrated books from travellers to the
USA, but also ""public relation'' books of German industries. Pictures from
both are revolutionary in their photographic concept, and a direct
foreshadowing of the Neue Sachlichkeit (das Neue Sehen) in Germany. Special
consideration is given to the most influential illustrated book by the then
well known modern architect Erich Mendelsohn: ""Amerika, Bilderbuch eines
Architekten'', 1926. On the basis of the reception of this book, Molderings can
state that it were not the American straight photographers Sheeler or Strand
that inspired the new conception of the photographic image, ""but the reality
of America itself - skyscrapers and huge cities called for a new dynamism in
visual thinking''.


Citaten:
Mendelsohn, E.: Amerika, Bilderbuch eines Architekten (1926)