August Sander. Persecuted/persecutors, of 20th century Men.

This exhibition was presented from March 8 to November 15, 2018 at the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris.

August Sander (1876-1964) is the author of many photographs iconic of the 20th century. At the end of the First World War, while he nurtured an intellectual exchange with the avant-garde circle of the Progressives of Cologne, it undertakes to draw up the portrait photographic of the German society of the Weimar Republic. This project, titled the Men of the 20th century, which gathers several hundred photographs, will not appear in its entirety until after his death.  His descendants still continue this work today.

What do these photos mean to us? The Memorial tries to answer this question in an exhibition that will take place from March 8 to November 15, 2018. Through several series of portraits taken under the Third Reich, the Shoah Memorial honours men and women who were victims of Nazi ideology. 

Sander’s strength lies in the flattening through the portrait of diversity, social, political, but also and above all the uniqueness of men. And in this regard, he renews our questioning about the impossible, of which the Memorial has the mission to remind, relentlessly, that it was possible.

The exhibition presents 120 portraits, excerpts from 20th century Men and unpublished contact prints.

website of the exhibition