Example of a Typology
August Sander - The Face of Our Time
One of the strategies photographers have used to explore the theme of contrast is to create a series of images of the same or similar people and/or objects. This approach is often referred to as a typological study - a classification of subjects according to type. One of the first such studies was by the German photographer August Sander, whose epic project 'People of the 20th Century' (40,000 negatives were destroyed during WWII and in a fire) produced volume of portraits entitled 'The Face of Our Time' in 1929. Sander categorized his portraits according to their profession and social class.
Sander's methodical, disciplined approach to photographing the world has had an enormous influence on later photographers, notably Bernd and Hilla Becher. This approach can also be seen in the work of their students Thomas Struth andThomas Ruff. Other photographers who have explored this idea include Stephen Shore, Gillian Wearing, Nicholas Nixon, Martina Mullaney and Ari Versluis. |