Young Farmers, ca. 1914
Gelatin silver print
23.5 x 17 cm (9-3/16 x 6-11/16in.)
84.XM.126.294

Like Weston, Sander began his career as a successful commissioned portraitist work- ing chiefly from a studio in his home. But like Walker Evans (pl. 174,184), he had an interest in rural and agrarian areas. During the height of World War I, at a time when he was forced to earn his livelihood by searching for clients in the country- side around Cologne, Sander created an enigmatic composition representing three young men in dark suits, each with a cane in his right hand. It was his first mas- terpiece. Its effect is achieved by the powerful way in which chance elements have been used. The subjects seem to have been caught off guard in the course of trav- eling along the dirt path upon which they stand. The earth is oddly light colored, more like beach sand than agricultural soil, and the terrain behind them is flat except for a small hill. The exposure has been made with the aperture of the lens at its maximum opening, thus causing the background to be out of focus and creat- ing a diffuse texture on which the figures look collaged. The spontaneity and sense of a situation unfolding are in contrast to the static poses typical of Sander's work to this point. It is hard to imagine this photograph being a portrait commissioned by the three young men; it is easy to believe that it was one of the first pictures Sander made in the full awareness that his own art was cultural history.
(EDWARD WESTON related to-->> 171)

related: web site -->>
• J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
• Masters of Photography