HANS FINSLER
German
Hans Finsler is a leading representative of the
movementNeue Sehen(New Vision) orNeue Foto-
grafieof the 1920s. He was an art historian, photo-
grapher, educator, and, for a while, a librarian.
One of his greatest merits is to have driven com-
mercial photography towards artistic representa-
tion in a decisive way. His photographic œuvre
consists almost exclusively of arranged objects
which seem to come out of the picture like sculp-
tures. Evident in his images is the influence of the
extraordinary design of theNeue Sachlichkeit(New
Objectivity): perspective of the camera, focus, con-
centration on details, and an emphasis on diago-
nals. The two groups in this movement stressed
either the experimental, process-related focus, or
focus on the object; Finsler belonged to the latter
group. He dedicated himself to questions of design,
light, and the arrangement of special structures in
his pictures.
Born in 1891 in Heilbronn as the son of a Swiss
merchant, Hans Finsler studied architecture in
Munich and Stuttgart as well as art history with
Heinrich Wo ̈lfflin and Paul Frankl at Munich Uni-
versity. In 1921, he moved to Halle (Saale) to com-
plete his Ph.D. under the supervision of Paul
Frankl. During this time, he earned his living by
working as a librarian and teacher of art history at
the school of commercial artsBurg Giebichenstein.
Here, he started using photography as a means to
collect demonstrative material for his courses and
to document the works of the school and its artists.
Soon this developed into the first course of pho-
tography at a German art school. In 1929, the ma-
gistrate sanctioned the establishment of a new
department for modern artistic photography at
the art school, with Hans Finsler as its head. Fins-
ler led this photography course until 1932.
In addition to his teaching assignments, Finsler
worked for municipal institutions and firms in and
outside Germany, as, for example, a chocolate pro-
ducer in Halle, the ‘‘United Factories’’ in Du ̈ssel-
dorf and Munich, the Werkbund and North
German Lloyd, by supplying advertising photo-
graphs. In 1928, Finsler had his first solo exhibition
in Halle; the year after, he participated with numer-
ous photographs in theFifo(film and photography
exhibition) at Stuttgart. The pictures taken during
the decade in Halle—probably around 2000—are
considered the most important part of his photo-
graphic œuvre. Finsler’s work and the activities of
his students found high acclaim in Halle and
beyond. He published in various journals and took
part in exhibitions in Berlin, Munich, Zurich, Stutt-
gart, Paris, and London. The city of Halle repeat-
edly hired him for advertising and documentary
photography; Finsler studied the interplay of archi-
tecture and landscape in the industrial town, and
the recording of the city’s appearance was one of his
important concerns.
Thus, the years in Halle were a fulfilling time for
him and led him to attain artistic maturity as a
photographer. He soon found his photographic
language, his ‘‘optical grammar.’’ The functional
context of objects, their characteristic use, and pro-
ductive qualities figured prominently in his pictures.
Some of his most impressive shots are those of
ocean steamers of the Lloyd, taken from an oblique
bottom position. A striking feature of his experi-
ments in creating an abstract image through photo-
graphing objects is Finsler’s predilection for
geometrical structures that are achieved through
calculated arrangements. Finsler was also a master
of architectural photography, his photographs cap-
turing the plasticity and materiality of buildings
and cityscapes through his choice of perspective,
composition, and play of light. As did other expo-
nents of the Neue Fotografie, Finsler also favoured
eggs as still life subjects: a series of these pictures,
consisting of 22 pictures, was probably produced in
the beginning of 1929.
In 1931, the city of Zurich offered Finsler a
teaching position in photography at the commer-
cial arts department of the school of commerce.
Finsler accepted ‘‘for reasons of health and
family’’ and remained there as head of the depart-
ment until his retirement in 1958. Among his
pupils were Werner Bischof, Amil Schulthess,
Ernst Scheidegger, and Rene ́Burri. He was active
publishing articles on photography for Camera,
Du, and other journals. In Switzerland, Finsler
also found a circle of clients highly appreciative
of his work, among them the modern furnishingFINSLER, HANS