| Photography Encyclopedia: Walter Peterhans |
Peterhans, Walter (1897-1960), German photographer and teacher. He studied mathematics, philosophy, and art history, then photographic reproduction at the Academy of Graphic Art and Book Design in Leipzig. He opened a studio in Berlin in 1927, but from 1929 to 1933 headed the newly established photography department at the Bauhaus, where photography had previously played only a marginal role. His appointment established it at a professional level, in conjunction with typography, advertising, and exhibition design. Peterhans's work was strongly influenced by Neue Sachlichkeit, and the syllabus emphasized the precise rendering of light effects, the structure of materials, and the texture of surfaces. In his own idiosyncratically composed still lifes, however, surreal and abstract tendencies appear, creating multiple levels of reality and meaning.
After the closure of the Bauhaus, Peterhans taught in Berlin, then, after emigrating to the USA, at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He only worked in post-war Germany on an occasional visiting basis.
— Ulrich Rüter
Bibliography
- Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin, Fotografie am Bauhaus (1990)
