August Sander: People of the 20th Century

With People of the 20th Century, August Sander created a monumental work that is unique in the history of photography and a classic of photographic literature. Sander conceived this large-scale project, which he ultimately never completed, in the 1920s. He was to spend the rest of his life working on it, his objective nothing less than a complete typological portrait of contemporary society. Hundreds of portraits classified according to professional, social or family criteria were to provide a representative picture of the various social groups. He envisaged seven groups labeled: «The Farmer», «The Skilled Tradesman», «The Woman», «Classes and Professions», «The Artists», «The City» and–on the theme of age, illness and death–«The Last People».