| Abstract: | Abstract This book owes its existence largely to the ‘discovery’ of a new cache of Zille photographs, now in the possession of one of the artist's descendants. Altogether, there are 418 negatives on glass, some glass positives, some contact prints, and about a hundred photographs of which negatives have not been traced. None of this material, had been treated with any particular care; its value had remained unrecognized, in harmony with Zille's own view of his photographic activities, as a means to a very practical end. Famous as a painter and cartoonist of the Berlin scene, he did not himself consider his photographs as Hochkunst, but there is no doubt whatever that modern sensibilities and judgements place them into that category. It is true enough that the present selection of 200 items, beautifully printed and presented one to a page, includes some trivial material, but an astonishing number of images invite comparison with the work of the more famous turn-of-the-century masters, and yield nothing at all to their superior reputations. Zille, who began photographing in 1890, might conceivably have know of Nègre, but there is no evidence that he had ever seen work by Atget, Coburn, Riis or Hine. Indeed, many of Zille's most important photographs predate some of their American parallels, and yet his images reflect the intrinsic qualities of all these artists, while at the same time exhibiting a freshness of approach which is peculiarly his own. This does not come through as a minor descant on a familiar theme; on the contrary, it is the dominant impression, important enough to secure Zille's place in any photographic Hall of Fame. The two examples available as illustrations for this review, though entirely competent, cannot by themselves confirm the impression of the originality and richness that are in store for the reader. |
