Renger-Patzsch was appointed Head of the Photographic
Archive at the publisher Folkwang-Verlag in 1920, and five years
later set himself up as a freelance photographer. He undertook commissions
from industry and advertising, in order to fund his own publishing
projects. Renger-Patzsch’s work was distinguished by a detached,
almost scientific objectivity and precise attention to detail.
His 1928 book The World is Beautiful, which
juxtaposed images of the natural and the industrial to bring out
their underlying similarities, established Renger-Patzsch as one
of the leading figures in the New Objectivity movement. In 1929,
he began a series of studies of the Ruhr Valley, including mines,
factories and workers’ accommodation - subjects that few photographers
had considered worthy of attention. Renger-Patzsch’s sober
style matched his subject matter: the bleak non-places at the edge
of the industrial landscape.
