Michael Schmidt - Berlin Wedding - 1978

Michael Schmidt, famous for "Waffenruhe" (Martin Parr, The Photobook, vol 2, page 65. The Open Book, Hasselblad Center, page 336/337. 802 photo books from the M.+M. Auer collection, page 673), Berlin Wedding was his second book. A pivotal book in his development as an artist, initially Schmidt photographed the area of Wedding in a traditional documentary style before beginning to develop his own unique vision that he is renowned for.

While based on the hard-edged landscapes of the Bechers and, more recently, Andreas Gursky, Schmidt also incorporates documentary elements of Walker Evans and other photographers, and even includes found photography for a more contemporary approach. Schmidt is a key figure in 20th-century German contemporary photography. Having long been based in Berlin, his work is characterized by a combination of complex political and historical contexts, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and identity. This book is comprised of works documenting West Berlin's working-class Wedding district in the late 1970s. His monochrome photographs capture everyday scenes and people, revealing the city's transformation and fragments of society. Schmidt states: "It was a completely conscious step to push photography into immeasurable grays, to make even black and white invisible... I realized that the world cannot be clearly defined, but is expressed in a variety of nuances."

Part of the realisation is the conscious composition of the black-and-white photographs in a broad palette of grey tones. Michael Schmidt commented on this: “Pushing the pictures into immeasurable grey, so that black and white no longer even appear in them, was a completely conscious step […] I thought the world can not be clearly defined, but presents itself in many nuances.”

Condition:
Very good first edition copy of this important work published by the Nagel Gallery in 1978 (not the later reprint). Some age-related discoloration to cover. Small edgewear. Former owner's name on blank front page covered by a sticker. Book printer's error on page 103 that affects one plate - see photos. Interior clean and bright. Please examine listing photos carefully.