PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE MODERN ERA

EUROPEAN DOCUMENTS

AND CRITICAL WRITINGS, 1913-1940

EDITED AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

CHRISTOPHER PHILLIPS

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/APERTURE

NEW YORK CONTENTS

Introduction xi

FRANCE

JEAN COCTEAU An Open Letter to M. Man Ray, American Photographer (1922) 1

TRISTAN TZARA Photography Upside Down (1922) 4

ROBERT DESNOS The Work of Man Ray (1923) 7

MAN RAY Deceiving Appearances (1926) 11

FLORENT FELS Preface to Metal by Germaine Krull (1927) 13

ROBERT DESNOS Spectacles of the Street—Eugene Atget (1928) 16

ALBERT VALENTIN Eugene Atget (1928) 18

FLORENT FELS The First Salon Independant de la Photographie (1928) 23

PIERRE MAC ORLAN The Literary Art of Imagination and Photography (1928) 27

PIERRE MAC ORLAN Elements of a Social Fantastic (1929) 31

SALVADOR DALI Photographic Testimony (1929) 34

CARLO RIM On the Snapshot (1930) 37 vi CONTENTS

PIERRE MAC ORLAN Preface to Atget Photographe de Paris (1930) 41

PHILIPPE SOUPAULT The Present State of Photography (1931) 50

MAN RAY The Age of Light (1934) 52

TRISTAN TZARA When Objects Dream (1934) 55

MAN RAY On Photographic Realism (1935) 57

Louis ARAGON John Heartfield and Revolutionary Beauty (1935) 60

Louis ARAGON Untitled contribution to The Quarrel over Realism (1936) 68

GERMANY

LASZL6 MOHOLY-NAGY Production-Reproduction (1922) 79

LASZL6 MOHOLY-NAGY Unprecedented Photography (1927) 83

LASZL6 MOHOLY-NAGY Photography in Advertising (1927) 86

ERNO KALLAI, with responses from WILLI BAUMEISTER, ADOLF BEHNE, and LASZL6 MOHOLY-NAGY Painting and Photography; Excerpts (1927) 94

ALBERT RENGER-PATZSCH Aims(1927) 104

AUGUST SANDER Remarks on My Exhibition at the Cologne Art Union (1927) 106 CONTENTS

ALBERT RENGER-PATZSCH Joy before the Object (1928) 108

HUGO SIEKER Absolute Realism: On the Photographs of Albert Renger-Patzsch (1928) 110

ERNO KALLAI Pictorial Photography (1928) 116

JAN TSCHICHOLD Photography and Typography (1928) 121

FRANZ HOLLERING Photomontage (1928) 128

LASZL6 MOHOLY-NAGY Sharp or Unsharp? A reply to Hans Windisch (1929) 132

ERNO KALLAI and ALBERT RENGER-PATZSCH Postscript to Photo-Inflation/Boom Times (1929) 140

ALBERT RENGER-PATZSCH Photography and Art (1929) 142

KURT KARL EBERLEIN On the Question: Original or Facsimile Reproduction? (1929) 145

ALEXANDER DORNER Original and Facsimile (1930) 151

WOLFGANG BORN Photographic Weltanschauung (1929) 155

FRANZ ROH The Value of Photography (1930) 160

PAUL RENNER The Photograph (1930) 164

WALTER PETERHANS On the Present State of Photography (1930) 170 viii CONTENTS

HANS WINDISCH Seeing(1929) 175

RAOUL HAUSMANN Photomontage (1931) 178

DURUS (ALFRED KEM£NY) Photomontage, Photogram (1931) 182

RUDOLPH ARNHEIM Excerpt from Film as Art (1932) 186

RAOUL HAUSMANN and WERNER GRAFF How Does the Photographer See? (1933) 194

DURUS (ALFRED KEM£NY) Photomontage as a Weapon in Class Struggle (1932) 204

ERNST JUNGER Photography and the "Second Consciousness"; An excerpt from "On Pain" (1934) 207

USSR

[GUSTAV KLUCIS?] Photomontage (1924) 211

OSSIP BRIK The Photograph versus the Painting (1926) 213

OSSIP BRIK What the Eye Does Not See (1926) 219

EL LISSITZKY The Architect's Eye; A review of Erich Mendelsohn's America (1926) 221

OSSIP BRIK From the Painting to the Photograph (1928) 227

YARVARA STEPANOVA Photomontage (1928) 234 CONTENTS ix

ALEXANDER RODCHENKO Against the Synthetic Portrait, for the Snapshot (1928) 238

"A PHOTOGRAPHER" An Illustrated Letter to the Editor: At Home and Abroad (1928) 243

ALEXANDER RODCHENKO Downright Ignorance or a Mean Trick? (1928) 245

BORIS KUSHNER Open Letter to Rodchenko (1928) 249

SERGEI TRETYAKOV Photo-Notes (1928) 252

ALEXANDER RODCHENKO The Paths of Modern Photography (1928) 256

ALEXANDER RODCHENKO A Caution (1928) 264

BORIS KUSHNER Fulfilling a Request (1928) 267

[SERGEI TRETYAKOV] From the Editor (1928) 270

ALEXEI FEDOROV-DAVYDOV Introduction to Moholy-Nagy's Painting Photography Film (1929) 273

ANONYMOUS Program of the October Photo Section (1931) 283

ITALY

ANTON GIULIO BRAGAGLIA Excerpts from Futurist Photodynamism (1913) 287

VINICIO PALADINI Photomontage (1929) 296 x CONTENTS

F. T. MARINETTI and TATO Futurist Photography (1930) 299

ARTURO BRAGAGLIA Futurist Photography (1932) 301

NETHERLANDS

CESAR DOMELA NIEUWENHUIS Photomontage (1931) 305

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

VIL£M SANTHOLZER The Triumphant Beauty of Photography (1925) 309

KAREL TEIGE The Tasks of Modern Photography (1931) 312

JAROMI'R FUNKE From the Photogram to Emotion (1940) 323

Bibliography 331

Acknowledgments 348