Whereas Sander categorized his subjects by occupation, class or other social affiliation, the Bechers developed typologies according to function, displaying their photographs in grids that emphasized formal similarities and distinctions. Sander was a chief influence on their work, as were other so-called "New Objectivity" photographers of his era, particularly Albert Renger-Patzsch and Karl Blossfeldt.
The dispassionate, mug-shot uniformity of the Bechers' approach has been described as minimalist, and the pictures do read as unsentimental examinations of geometric form, all linear struts, wheels and planes. At the same time, a sense of deeply felt social history -- nostalgia, even -- courses through the work, a preservationist impulse to record forms every bit as mortal as their human counterparts.
Pairing the two shows makes visual and art historical sense and takes great advantage of the museum's deep holdings, but their points of connection feel conspicuously unexamined. Even the most rudimentary compare-and-contrast exercise would deliver loads of interesting overlaps having to do with seriality, typology, the archival impulse and the questionable concept of photographic objectivity -- not to mention the massive influence of both bodies of work on subsequent generations of photographers, from Diane Arbus to Thomas Ruff. But wall texts are mute on the synchronism, and the exhibition brochures no more illuminating.
Sander, of all artists, would have appreciated a view that took in both shows.
"Photography is like a mosaic that becomes a synthesis only when it is presented en masse," he wrote in 1951. Just as each of his subjects gained meaning as a representative of a type, each portrait he made took on greater significance as part of his broad, brilliant, unfinishable enterprise.
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August Sander / Bernd and Hilla Becher
Where: Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and Sundays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Ends: Sept. 14
Price: Free; parking is $8
Contact: (310) 440-7300 or www.getty.edu
