File - Digital Graphic Arts by Craig

Fotoform
Compiled By Craig Rihl
Media 203
Beginnings
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In the period after WWII a group of German photographers took a style of
photographic techniques from the famous Bauhaus school of design and
photographer Neue Sachlichkeit and expounded and refined it. The group
consisted of Ludwig Windstosser, Peter Keetman, Toni Schneiders, Siegfried
Lauterwasser, Wolfgang Reisewitz and headed by Otto Steinert who actually
had no formal photographic training. They created what was called the
“Fotoform” movement.
By Otto Steinnert
First Exhibit
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The group had their first exhibit at the Photokina fair in Cologne, Germany in
1950. The Fotoform style used darkroom manipulation, using natural patterns
that emphasized the abstract. This was one of the first art forms to surface
after the demise of the Nazis who deemed this kind of art did not fit their
nationalist agenda. Most art of this kind was forced underground for the
duration of the war. Thus the Fotoform exhibit caused quite a sensation
among the German people as abstract art was seen as degenerate by the
Nazis. This exhibit was the first attempt to reestablish and further the
photographic art forms of the Bauhaus and Neue Sachlichkeit that had been
suspended by the Nazis.
By Ludwig Windstosser
Ludwig Windstosser
Peter Keetman
Toni Schneiders
Siegfried Lauterwasser
Wolfgang Reisewitz
Otto Steinert
Analysis
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A photographer I was intrigued with this style of photography. What struck
me was the quality as most of the photographs were taken between 1946 –
1958. I enjoyed the sophistication of the black & white abstracts as the
technology of photography was more primitive than it is today. I feel that the
photographers were conveying an art form that bursting from the confinement
of fascism. The photograph of the woman on the first page by Otto Steinert
seem to represent the transition from fascism to freedom of the German
people who were oppressed by the Nazis. The visual language of the pieces
is abstraction that conveys a sense finally bing able to be distracted from the
horrors of war. All of the photographers cited had a similar style and used
similar techniques.
Sources
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Photographs – Google Images
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Information – Encyclopedia Britannica
Wikipedia