Willi Ruge, Parachutist Self-Portrait Series, 1931, Vintage gelatin silver print, Image 8" x 5.75", Paper 8.5" x 6.75". Matted. Typed caption affixed to verso. Agency credit stamped on verso. Dated in pencil on caption page verso.

*Willi Ruge book scans (images 6-10) for reference only.

Artist Biography:
Ruge adopted an even more radical position in his parachuting reportage, which appeared in 1931 - first in Berlin, in May, and then in London a month later. We can assume that the coverage included around twenty photographs, fourteen of which are in the Walther Collection. Sixteen pictures in this series are known to be extant; five of the published images have not been located to date. The quality of the prints is that of most press photos of the time, which were either produced by the photographers themselves in multiples, directly from the negative, and then sent to various newspapers and magazines, or reproduced and enlarged by partner agencies for further circulation. 24 Ruge's parachuting reportage was his greatest success. It was published as a three-page article in the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, then printed the same year in the Illustrated London News and in three American magazines - and the photos were still being sold and printed as a sensational reportage in the mid-1930s. 25 Thanks to the accompanying text (written by Ruge for the Berlin magazine) and the captions on the backs of the photographs, it is possible to reconstruct the shooting sequence. In his text, Ruge also refers to the difficulties he faced in getting permission for his adventure, first in being allowed to take the required training course: 'The director of the parachute factory was interested in our plan, but also somewhat skeptical. He only agreed when I assured him that, as an experienced pilot, I possessed sufficient aeronautical expertise.' 26 By this time Ruge had been working as a press photographer for twenty years, and he did not pass up the opportunity to document every aspect of a highly original subject. A series of eight photographs by Ruge on the correct handling of a parachute, now in the Keystone Archive in Zurich (figs. 9, 10), was likely taken during the training course - a context particularly apparent in the photo showing a graphic sequence of jumps. Ruge's concept for the daring reportage included the depiction of both hero and audience. He planned the project together with Bottcher, who, Ruge reported, had also completed the jump training, taken his test jump, and injured himself in doing so. In addition, 'My colleague Fernstadt pitched in to photograph my own jump from the vantage point of the second airplane,' Ruge wrote. His and Bottcher's equipment comprised 'a small-gauge film camera with an automatic release trigger that we customized ourselves, while the accompanying colleague in the second airplane was equipped with a standard press camera.' 27 Altogether, nine of the preserved photographs were taken by someone other than Ruge. In the published sequence, these scenes add emotion and drama to the adventure: showing, for example, Ruge's wife, holding their newborn son and gazing up at the sky among other amazed onlookers (fig. 11) and, most significantly, the various phases of Ruge's jump as photographed from the second airplane (figs. 12, 13). These photos, most likely taken based on Ruge's advice and specification, convey a sense of space and height; the article also includes three highly dramatic images captured by Ruge himself (figs. 14, 16, 17). 'It is simply impossible for me to describe the feeling as I looked down to the earth below, head down,' he wrote. 'I hardly had the sensation of falling, of speed and danger. During the seeminly eternal time of seven minutes until I landed, I photographed what I saw.' 28 The object of Ruge's observation was his own body. Despite his paralyzed expression, the self-portrait taken from below, with the structure of the parachute in the background, conveys a feeling of relief - the parachute had opened. Figure 14 shows Ruge with his mouth wide open, his piercing cry almost audible. The experiment is more disturbing in two further images: in one (fig. 15), Ruge falls toward the earth headfirst, tense hands outstretched; in the other (fig. 17), his legs, isolated from his body, obstruct our view of the houses of the city below: 'I am photographing my own feet at a height of two hundred meters,' the caption reads. As he attempted to land, a power pole got in the way. He concluded, 'A scratched face and shattered shinbone, but ... a couple good shots. All in all: more luck than good sense.' 29 The happy ending is, of course, also captured - his wife's welcoming kiss and the congratulations of the spectators (fig. 18). With this highly dramatic collection of images, the almost forty-year-old photographer succeeded in definitively positioning himself as an adventurous modern photojournalist - and that same year he produced several other large reportages. Ruge's adventurous approach to photography also took him behind the scenes of a gynecology clinic. His comprehensive and very detailed work on a hospital delivery room was a cover story for the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung in 1931. 30 Reportages in Argentina and in Egypt and other African countries ensued during the 1930s, but he still continued to follow local events.

Good condition. Wear to corners. Some surface abrasions. Fingerprints to lower right and lower left. Crazing to upper right and lower right. Slight discoloration.

8.5 x 6.75 in