Die ArbeiterâIllustrierteâZeitung [Workerâs Illustrated Magazine] (known as the AIZ) is widely recognized as a highly successful and politically radical alternative to interwar Germanyâs mainstream illustrated press. Far less acknowledged, however, is the extent to which the magazineâs famously persuasive use of photography arose from deep misgivings about the mediumâs accuracy. This article will take a fresh look at the AIZâs astonishing alchemy of image and text and suggest that this formula, meant to expose the unseen, arose not in an outright enthusiasm for photography but from an institutionalized German communism that strongly distrusted images.
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