ABSTRACT
If the Bauhaus has proved an unwieldy historical subject, the role of photography at the school is perhaps even harder to pin down because of its unofficial status and the variety of modes in which it was practiced. Although there was no formal workshop devoted to photography before 1929, the innovative explorations of the many Bauhaus artists who experimented with the medium during the 1920s constitute one of the most vital episodes in the history of photography.1 As objects, the photographs themselves are similarly elusive, neither adhering to a single “Bauhaus style” nor representing the type of functional object typically associated with the established workshops. Created free from the requirements of any formal course, but deeply inspired by the school’s spirit of artistic innovation and fascination with technology, the photographs are among the most powerful expressions of the whole Bauhaus experiment.
