When August Sander opened a portrait studio in Cologne, he rejected the painted backdrops and architectural props common at the time, striving for a new simplicity and naturalness. On weekends he loaded his camera and tripod onto his bicycle and searched for customers in country villages. Soon he began to organize their images to reflect the scope of German society, from citizens who worked with the soil to craftsmen and professionals, to those involved with the most elevated levels of the sciences, arts, religion and the nobility. Sander planned to publish them in an encyclopedic survey, Menschen des zwanzigste Jahrhunderts (People of the 20th Century). One of Sander’s best-known images from the project, these two pugilists stand side-by-side before a workout or match. One tall, blond and serious, contrasts with a jolly, shorter and stouter opponent. They represent German youth, warm-hearted and amusing, but serious and capable when necess

from Touchstones of the Twentieth Century: A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame (exhibition, 2020-21)