A collection of 75 vintage prints

A highly skilled and aesthetically gifted photographer, Hans Saebens specialised in recording the landscapes and working people of Northern Germany. He began his career as a painter and graphic artist, but dedicated himself solely to photography after discovering its power in the early 1930s, continuing to produce acclaimed photographs throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. Though he was never a member of the National Socialist party, Saebens' idealised images of pastoral German life were seized upon as 'propaganda assets' by the Nazis. In spite of the significance of Saebens' work and its relationship to the practice of his contemporary photographers in other countries, his success under the Third Reich has cast an ignominious shadow over his contribution to the history of photography, and his work has received scant critical attention outside of Germany. This group of 75 prints joins a collection of photographic works by Saebens' contemporary and countryman Erich Retzlaff, enhancing a growing holding of mid-20th century European photography in the Aberystwyth collection.