Albert Renger-Patsch

After WWI, a German by the name of Mr. Patsch initiated the photographic break from traditional technique - imitating the classical painter's subject choices that almost always invoke tranquility through soft light - and turned instead to scenes that rendered the world as-is. Sharply focused, Patsch's new angle showed factory gears and hard architectural lines as new, aesthetic players on the photography scene. His best known book, The World is Beautiful, inspired a following that began to focus on world realities instead of dream scapes.