Modern Vision

Very few exhibitions can genuinely be regarded as landmarks, having instant and profound effects on perceptions. One of these was Film und Foto, the ambitious international survey first staged in 1929 in Stuttgart, Germany, to showcase all that was new and transformative about photography and cinema.

FiFo (as it was known at the time) put aside anxieties about the status of photography as Art, capital A, to look instead at its comprehensive redefinition of modern vision and its diverse roles in society. Photography had become central to science, architecture, fashion, advertising, reportage, tourism, and more. Yes, it could be framed on walls, but it could also be used in the streets on posters and billboards, in books, journals, and magazines. And, of course, photography was a fundamental ingredient of filmmaking.

Arranged over thirteen rooms, the show drew); plus anonymous industrial, scientific, sports, and news photographs.