Photography Exhibitions, 1909–1938

Willi Ruge (German, 1882–1961)
Film und Foto: Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds
(Film and Photo: International Exhibition of the Deutsche Werkbund),
Stuttgart (May 18–July 7, 1929), 1929
Lithograph, 32 1/2 x 22 3/4" (84.1 x 58.4 cm)

Film und Foto (or “FiFo”) of 1929 is perhaps the best-known photography exhibition of the interwar period. It was, however, just one of a number of large-scale presentations of the medium during the 1920s and 1930s. Today we present a selection of posters announcing photography exhibitions in Germany, Switzerland, and Holland during these years.

The designers of these posters often sought to thematize the mechanics of photography or to highlight its newly recognized artistic and commercial potential. Willi Ruge’s FiFo image of a photographer shot from below, for example, acknowledged the agency of the photographer as well as the distortions of the photographic lens. Theo Ballmer offered a graphic abstraction of the camera’s shutter. Walter Dexel translated photography’s processes of mirroring and negative/positive inversion into typographical form. Georg Trump and Emmy Andriesse manipulated and repositioned the photographic fragment. And Jan Tschichold employed the negative image to exemplify photo-specific options.

László Moholy-Nagy’s 1925 book Malerie, Photographie, Film (Painting, Photography, Film) played a major role in establishing the medium-specific discourse surrounding photography reflected here. Even the replacement of “Photo” for “Foto” in the 1927 edition of the book—an orthographic nod to efficiency, streamlining, and modernity—is reflected here.

Wilhelm Hartz (Deutschland, 1883–1947)
Internationale Photographische Ausstellung, Dresden
(May–October 1909), 1909
Lithograph, 38 1/2 x 26 1/2” (97.8 x 67.3 cm)

Henry (biographical information unknown)
Deutsche Photographische Ausstellung, Stuttgart (May 2–16, 1920), 1920
Lithograph, 31 1/8 x 23 1/2" (79.1 x 60 cm)

Theo Ballmer (Swiss, 1902–1965)
100 Jahre Lichtbild (100 Years of Photography),
Basel (April 9–May 8, 1927), 1927
Lithograph, 50 1/4 x 35 1/2" (127 x 90 cm)

Walter Dexel (German, 1890–1973)
Neue Wege der Photographie (New Directions of Photography),
Jena (March 25–May 6, 1928), 1928
Letterpress, 5 7/8 x 8 1/4" (14.9 x 20.9 cm)

Walter Dexel (German, 1890–1973)
Fotografie der Gegenwart (Contemporary Photography),
Magdeburg (November 28–December 19, 1929), 1929
Lithograph, 33 1/16 x 23 7/16” (84 x 59.5 cm)

Georg Trump (German, 1896–1985)
Internationale Ausstellung: Das Lichtbild (International Exhibition: The Photographic Image), Munich (June–September 1930), 1930
Lithograph with cut-and-pasted paper correction, 23 9/16 x 32” (59.8 x 81.2 cm)

Paul Schneider (possibly: Paul Schneider-Esleben [German, 1915–2005])
Foto: Fotoausstellung des S.W.B. (Exhibition of the Swiss Werkbund), Winterthur (September 8–October 8, 1933), 1933
Lithograph, 34 5/8 x 25 3/8" (88 x 64.4 cm)

Emmy Andriesse (Dutch, 1914–1953)
Tentoonstelling Foto ’37 (Exhibition Foto ’37),
Amsterdam (June 19–September 12, 1937), 1937
Lithograph, 33 1/8 x 23 1/4” (84 x 58.4 cm)

Jan Tschichold (Swiss, born Germany. 1902–1974)
Der Berufsphotograph: Sein Werkzeug—Seine Arbeiten (The Professional Photographer, His Tools—His Work), Basel (May 8–June 6, 1938), 1938
Photolithograph
25 1/8 x 35 13/16" (63.8 x 91 cm)

January 27, 2026