Die visuelle Ästhetik einer Doppelbelichtung: Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Estland 1937

Abstract

While traveling in Estonia in 1937, Annemarie Schwarzenbach created a doubleexposed photograph which shows both a group of flower sellers and a freight train. The image reflects on industrialisation and the juxtaposition of farm and urban life in the Baltic country. The aesthetic composition of the photo brings about a poetic aspect as a result of camera technology. Incorporating technology in its means of artistic expression, the view on Estonian society that reveals the shift of industrialization is thus made visible through aesthetics that Lásló Moholy-Nagy describes in the context of New Vision. Schwarzenbach identifies a comparable poetic trace in the publication formats she considers ideal, namely large-format images and text-only travel reports. The resulting ambiguity of documentary and fiction is characteristic for the contemporary style of new journalism. (CA; in German)