Ruth Bernhard Archive, Princeton University Art Museum. © Trustees of Princeton University
On view
Cross-Collections Gallery
Life Savers, from the portfolio Ten Photographs: 1930–1976,
1930
Ruth Bernhard, 1905–2006; born Berlin, Germany; died San Francisco, CA
x1991-3.1
Bernhard’s still lifes reveal a fascination with the everyday. According to the artist, “Looking at everything as if for the first time reveals the commonplace to be utterly incredible.” This sense of wonder may also have been a reaction to changing societal conditions, for these 1930s photographs of industrially produced commodities—whether straws, pins, or Life Savers—picture a world increasingly overtaken by stuff. Characterized by patterning and repetition, Bernhard’s arrangements seem to emerge from the seriality of mass production. Her formal play with light and shadow suggests a phantasmagoric ballet of the assembly line.
Information
Title
Life Savers, from the portfolio Ten Photographs: 1930–1976
Dates
1930
Maker
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
19.1 x 23.4 cm. (7 1/2 x 9 3/16 in.)
mount: 40.6 x 50.8 cm. (16 x 20 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Object Number
x1991-3.1
Place Made
North America, United States, California, Berkeley, Nichol Press
Inscription
Signed in graphite, on mount below image bottom right: Ruth Bernhard
In graphite, verso top left: Lifesavers 1930 / Ruth Bernhard
Culture
Techniques
Subject
The artist; given to the Princeton University Art Museum, 1991.
Life Savers
