Mareike Stoll. ABC der Photografie. Photobücher der Weimarer Republik als Schulen des Sehens

ABC der Photographie (The ABC of Photography) investigates the phenomenon of the photobook in interwar Germany and reconstructs the reasons for its popularity through reference to various theoretical, medium-related, political and artistic contexts. Examining a series of photobooks, e. g. Aenne Biermanns 60 Fotos (1930) and Alfred Ehrhardts Das Watt (1937), and writings on photography from 1924 to 1937, the book argues that the photobook appears against a historical horizon where political warnings of the manipulability of photography proliferate. The photobook arises as a training device that slows down perception, imposes a critical distance, and develops new forms of visual engagement. ABC der Photographie argues that the photobook — with its page layouts, spaces in between the individual photographs, and photographic sequences — demands an active reading process that in turn has an effect on the beholder. Moreover, it offers itself such a reading experience.