Files
Abstract
In December of 1928, the Munich-based publisher, Kurt Wolff released a book with a new concept: a collection of one-hundred black and white photographs by Albert Renger-Patzsch. Titled Die Welt ist schn, the book presented a remarkable diversity of subjects visually unified by Renger-Patzschs straight-forward aesthetic. While widely praised at the time of its release, the book exists in relative obscurity today. Its legacy was cemented by the negative criticism it received in two of Walter Benjamins essays, Little History of Photography (1931) and The Author as Producer (1934). This paper reexamines the book in within the context of its reception, reconsidering the books legacy and its ties to the New Objectivity movement in Weimar.