Andrew Thorndike, Annelie Thorndike - Jeder Tag war schön ("THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PHOTOBOOK FROM THE DDR/GDR") - 1966

QUITE POSSIBLY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK EVER PRODUCED IN THE GDR/DDR and
- in my opinion - one of the MOST BREATHTAKING PHOTO BOOKS EVER CREATED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

IF YOU EVER NEEDED PROOF OF WHAT A PHOTOBOOK CAN BE — it's full creative potential in layout, sequencing, photography, materials (paper, binding etc.), and typography -
THIS BOOK IS THAT PROOF.

ORIGINAL JUTE (BURLAP) BINDING, INSIDE AND OUTSIDE HANDMADE WITH LOVE.
DESIGNED WITH SUCH INDIVIDUALITY THAT IT FEELS LIKE A TRUE ONE-OF-A-KIND PIECE.

VERY FRESH CONDITION AND COMPLETE WITH ALL ELEMENTS (12 integrated inserts).

AN ABSOLUTE ESSENTIAL FOR THE COLLECTION OF ANY PASSIONATE PHOTOBOOK LOVER.

MY HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.

THIS IS THE VERY FIRST PHOTOBOOK AUCTION ON CATAWIKI - dedicated entirely to the world of the former "DDR"/"GDR" ("GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC" or "EAST GERMANY") which existed from 1949 to 1990.

Still largely undiscovered and unexplored, this field offers a wealth of fascinating discoveries for collectors.
5Uhr30.com presents exceptional works by renowned and emerging artists, survey works, compelling monographs, as well as extraordinarily rare small vintage catalogues, vintage children’s books and vintage factory photobooks; signed publications, posters, and much more.

"Jeder Tag war schön" ("Every Day was beautiful") -
a lavishly and lovingly designed East German travel book (about a journey between Antwerp and Bombay).

With numerous mounted (pasted) supplements, facsimile (travel) letters -
various typography, various colors.

Wonderful, breath-taking book - printed like a handwritten diary.
Great text by Annelie Thorndike, wonderful photos by Andrew Thorndike,
sensational layout by Heinz Bormann.

Subtitle:
"Erlebnisse, Träume, Geständnisse notiert zwischen Antwerpen und Bombay."
("Experiences, dreams, confessions noted between Antwerp and Bombay.")

"Annelie Thorndike was elected to the Volkskammer in 1963. From 1967 she was a member of the board and from 1980 a member of the presidium of the Association of Film and Television Workers of the GDR, founded by Andrew Thorndike. From 1973 to 1989 she was president of the committee of the International Leipzig Week for Documentary and Short Film, which was responsible for organising the Leipzig Dokfilmwoche."
(Wikipedia)

Like always we guarantee detailed and accurate descriptions, 100% transport protection, 100% transport insurance, and of course, combined shipping - worldwide.

MAKE SURE YOU DON'T MISS THIS UNIQUE CHANCE!
Brought to you exclusively by 5Uhr30.com, Cologne, Germany.

VEB Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock. 1966. First edition, first printing.

Hardcover in linen (stencil printed original jute binding, at that time supplied by Jutespinnerei und -Weberei Meißen). 200 x 240 mm. 312 pages. Photos in color and in black and white. Photos: Andrew Thorndike. Layout: Heinz Bormann. Other contributor: Edith Wäscher. Text: Annelie Thorndike. Text in German.

Condition:
Inside excellent, fresh and flawless, clean with no marks and with no foxing; complete. Outside light trace of use; spine sunned. Overall very fine condition.

Wonderful east-german photobook, in form of an original travel diary with drawings, facsimiles and sketches - my highest recommendation.

"Who today even recalls the names of the documentary filmmakers Annelie and Andrew Thorndike? In West Germany—where their works were seldom shown, partly due to political timidity and narrow-mindedness, partly because of a lack of audience interest—probably almost no one; and in East Germany, presumably only the older generation (who indeed made up the majority at the opening of the exhibition at the Potsdam Film Museum). The Thorndikes’ films—skillful compilations, to be sure—confirmed some viewers in their convictions, while provoking others to contradiction. As Elke Schieber, head of the Potsdam collection, remarked, the films polarized; at the same time, they shaped the historical consciousness of millions in the former GDR.
Praise of their own country, attacks on the Western world, and, not least, a partisan interpretation of history were the filmmakers’ themes; they appeared mostly as writers, more rarely as directors. Reconstruction optimism at East German shipyards is contrasted with stagnation in the West (“From Hamburg to Stralsund,” 1950); an SS leader in the West is exposed (“Vacation on Sylt,” 1957); General Speidel is attacked (“Operation Teutonic Sword,” 1957/58); fifty years of German history are surveyed (“You and Some Comrades,” 1954–56); a paean to the Soviet Union is sung (“The Russian Miracle,” 1959–63); and figures such as Wilhelm Pieck (1951/52), Lenin (1970), and others are portrayed.
The Thorndikes undoubtedly found interesting material, and they had to make skillful use of images as well; yet the images were always forced to subordinate themselves—in selection and editing—to the argument, to serve as proof of theses. Thus, no doubt could ever arise; what was presented was ultimately fixed and predetermined, while everything that did not fit the picture was set aside (such as the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1939 in the film about the USSR). Certainly, everything the Thorndikes presented consisted of documents, but the images and words were selected in the spirit and service of a state, for its benefit and glory. This inevitably raises the question of the value of the documentary form, especially when the state itself is both client and censor. How different, by contrast, were the documentary works of Jürgen Böttcher, Winfried Junge, or Volker Koepp—or even those that once came from Poland and Czechoslovakia!
All the same, Andrew and Annelie Thorndike are witnesses to and products of DEFA’s documentary-film production, and as such they deserve attention in historical reflection. The Potsdam Film Museum is dedicating a small exhibition to them, offering insight into their work: production stills, working materials, documents (including those from a legal dispute over the Speidel film), a letter from Brecht declining to collaborate (on the grounds that he could serve only theatre or film), letters, posters, manuscripts (Annelie Thorndike planned a film about Frederick the Great), medals. The work and lives of Andrew (1909–1970) and Annelie Thorndike come alive—also, in a sense, as part of the legacy of the GDR. What is missing is an examination of the possibilities and limits of the documentary film."
- Volker Baer (filmdienst 12/2002) -