he later destroyed for fear of its being used by the
United States in World War I. At the end of his
studies, he left for the United States, arriving in
New York, where he changed his name to Alexan-
der Stone and became an American citizen. He
quickly found work as a technical draftsman for
airplane manufacturing and later in Thomas Edi-
son’s laboratories. At the same time, he developed
his artistic interests, studying sculpture with the re-
spected sculptor Hunt Diederich. He became Dieder-
ich’s assistant and established a small art forging
business. It is possible that during this time Stone
met Camille Schammelhout (Cami Stone), his
future wife, who had emigrated to the United
States from Belgium. As war clouds gathered in
Europe, he registered for the army and was sta-
tioned in England with the 25th airborne squadron,
where he was both flight teacher and co-pilot. It
was during this time that Stone’s first known
photographs—small-format souvenir photos of
colleagues, airplanes, and scenes of everyday mili-
tary life—were taken. Otherphotographs document
the reality of war. It seems as though Stone’s deci-
sion to take up photography had to do with the
possibility of combining technical ability, scientific
interest, and aesthetic sensibility.
After his discharge from the Army, Stone re-
turned to the United States. His idea for the im-
provement of the automobile’s mechanics proved
profitable for his former partner Hunt Diederich,
but not for Stone. Facing the need to begin over,
Stone returned to Europe and settled in France.
He began his artistic studies in the fields of draw-
ing, painting, and sculpture at the A.E.F. Training
Center in Bellevue near Paris with the help of a
stipend from the American army. In 1922, he left
Paris for Berlin.
In Berlin, Stone attended Russian Constructivist
Alexander Archipenko’s sculpture course at the art
school he had opened in 1921 and assisted on some
of Archipenko’s projects. Finding Berlin amenable
to his ambition of operating a sculpture studio and
a place where he could connect with those who had
similar artistic intentions, he stayed in the German
capital. He exhibited his work under his new name,
Sasha Stone, with an artist group calledKorn-
scheuer, of which he was a member. The strong
geometrical forms that dominate his pictures and
sculptural objects not only reveal Archipenko’s
influence but also an affinity with radical construc-
tivism, represented by the avant-garde journalG.
Material fur elementare Gestaltung(G. Material for
elemental design). TheG-Groupwas made up of
artists and intellectuals such as Werner Graff, Hans
Richter, Max Buchartz, Walter Ruttmann, RaoulHausmann, Walter Benjamin, Natan Altmann,
Naum Gabo, Ludwig Hilbersheimer, Mies van
der Rohe, and it represented various disciplines:
painting, sculpture, architecture, film, and pho-
tography. The members of theG-Groupunderstood
themselves and experts (Fachma ̈nner) rather than
artists. In 1924, Stone ended his career as painter
and sculptor, unable to succeed financially due to
the inflated economy of the Weimar Republic. Pho-
tography proved more profitable, and he opened
‘‘Atelier Stone.’’
Stone’s career as a photographer developed
rapidly in between the inflation of 1923 and the
Depression of 1929, and it also paralleled the
steady increase in the publication of illustrated
magazines. As of 1926, many of his photographs
appeared in the major illustrated magazines pub-
lished by the Ullstein Verlag:Uhu,Die Dame, and
Die Praktische Berlinerin. He produced photo-
graphs for specific articles, such as ‘‘Chiromantie.
Die Sprache der Hand’’ inDie Praktische Berli-
nerin, and ‘‘Die Scho ̈nheit der Technik. Die Geburt
einer neuen Kunst,’’Uhu(Ma ̈rz 1926). His photo-
graphs work within the spirit of the New Objectiv-
ity (Neue Sachlichkeit) in terms of his use of
unconventional angles and tight close-ups of faces
and figures. However, his take on this constructive
process of picture making emphasizes the special
qualities of person, object, or urban landscape,
allowing them to find expression through the me-
dium. This can be seen in his portraits of the
actress Tilla Durieux and the reporter Egon
Erwin Kisch and his photomontage portraits of
Erwin Piscator.
As of 1927, Stone’s photographs appeared reg-
ularly in other illustrated magazines:Berliner Illus-
trierte Zeitung, Querschnitt, Sudwestdeutschen
Rundfunkzeitschrift, even on the front cover. His
work focuses at this time on the technical reality,
the topic the illustrated press wanted to bring to its
readers. The best reportage Stone produced at this
time was published in 1929 in Heft 9 of the maga-
zineDie Form, dedicated to the large electrical
factory Klingenberg. Between 1925 and 1928,
Stone’s reportages focused on the themes of enter-
tainment, comedy, and suspense. Berlin stood at
the center of this popular theatrical culture with
its many theaters, variety, and pleasure palaces,
where the best clowns, artists, and actors per-
formed. The illustrated magazines in turn encour-
aged this collective atmosphere of entertainment
with their use of witty photos and extensive report-
age provided by Stone on clown groups, the
famous juggler Enrico Rastelli, and the Jackson
Girls, a Folies Berge`re-style dance troupe.STONE, SASHA