Bricklayer, 1928

August Sander

1928 (printed 1983)

Gelatin silver print

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A man wearing a cap and vest carries a large stack of bricks on his shoulders. He stands against a dark background, looking directly at the viewer. A man wearing a cap and vest carries a large stack of bricks on his shoulders. He stands against a dark background, looking directly at the viewer. He emerges from darkness, his head framed by the bricks he shoulders, his face illuminated by a dramatic and ennobling light. August Sander made the image for his “People of the Twentieth Century” project, which sought to document the full range of contemporary German society through portraits of its people, including artists, farmers, skilled tradesmen, politicians, soldiers, and students. Beginning about 1910, he traveled widely throughout the country and produced more than six hundred