"Strasse (Avenue des Champe-Elysees)," Aenne Biermann, c. 1928.

Biermann (1898-1933) was a self-taught photographer whose career was cut short by liver disease, and whose legacy fell victim to the Holocaust.

Born to a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family, and marrying a wealthy textile merchant, she experimented with photography by taking photos of her own children. As she progressed, she began to increasingly become more avant-garde, experimenting with form and perspective, and eventually becoming a major figure in the New Objectivity movement, a Weimar-era art style that emphasized practical engagement with the world.

Here she takes a photo of a frequent sitter, actress Annaliese Schlesser, and double-exposes it with an inverted image of Paris' Champs-Elysee. Thus we have her face superimposed with radiating lines from the center bottom, and giving up an arresting image.

Her early death was bad enough, but her family fled Germany ahead of the Nazi party, and much of her body of work was destroyed during the Holocaust. Now work by Biermann is rare & extremely expensive, but what remains is studied and praised today. A prestigious photography award in Germany is named for her, keeping her legacy alive.

From a private collection.

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