Getty Museum

[Rural wedding portrait]

Date

1913

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Culture

German

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

> This photograph of a young rural couple on their wedding day is as rich in narrative detail as *Young Farmers* (see [84.XM.126.294](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/34449/august-sander-young-farmers-jungbauern-german-summer-1914/)) yet less laden with symbolic meaning. The young man, identified on the glass-plate negative as Peter Schmidt, is seen with his wife in front of a wooden barn, their formal attire and stiff poses appropriate to the seriousness of the occasion. August Sander describes without emphasis or passion the bride's high-necked black gown, the satin rosette pinned to her chest, and her pearly diadem and brooch. She is the epitome of a traditional peasant bride. The small branch in her hand is a decorative prop frequently used by Sander to lend his female sitters an air of natural repose and ease, a device that seemingly fails in this instance. > > The bride's chaste appearance and directness is strangely at odds with her husband's portentous demeanor. His slick, fashionable grooming and calculated pose betray a theatrical consciousness that is absent in his wife. The oversized coat, stylish necktie, and bowler suggest a latent desire to project an aura of urban sophistication and elegance. The man's work-roughened hands and the humble setting, however, give him away. > > Sander rarely interfered with his clients' performances in front of the camera, thereby acknowledging the importance of role-playing in portrait photography. This image reveals how his subjects saw themselves, how they wanted to be seen by others, and how they wished this event to be preserved for posterity. > > Originally published in *August Sander*, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum by Claudia Bohn-Spector (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2000), 22. ©2000, J. Paul Getty Trust.

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