Book Description

As an architect, Fritz Block (1889-1955) was one of the most dedicated proponents of the Neues Bauen (New Building) movement in Germany. From 1929 onwards, he also used the medium of photography to express the impulse of modernism and the ideals of New Objectivity. Block travelled as a photo journalist to Paris, Marseille, and North Africa. In 1931, he undertook what proved to be a highly productive trip to the US, from New York via Detroit to Los Angeles. The press and the Werkbund journal Die Form published his pictures, and his work was placed on display at exhibitions such as Das Lichtbild (The Photographic Image; Munich 1930) and Internationale Foto-Ausstellung (International Photo Exhibition; Hamburg 1932). Yet because of his Jewish origins, the Nazis in 1933 banned Block from working as an independent architect in Germany, nor could he publish his photographs anymore. So he turned to photography entirely, working abroad on extensive journeys, including a Zeppelin airship flight to Rio de Janeiro in 1933 and a world cruise in 1938. Block eventually emigrated to Los Angeles in late 1938, where he focused on colour slide photography. He produced numerous series of colour slides during the 1940s, for example on California's architectural modernism, which were distributed throughout the US. This is the first monograph on Fritz Block's work as a photographer, featuring a vast range of images from his entire career. It demonstrates what an accomplished artist he was with his camera, in reportage, object and architectural photography.