Photography is one of the most appreciated creative fields. It opens your heart and soul through the mind's eye as you view images from nearby to places far away. You can travel without ever leaving your home by viewing the works of many groundbreaking photographers. John Gutmann is one such photographer.
John Gutmann was born in Breslau, Germany in 1905. He originally studied art under the Master Expressionist Otto Mueller. He loved what he could produce through his paintings and by 1927, he was exhibiting his work at Schlesischer Kunsterbund and the Museum der Bildenden Kuntse in Breslau. John Gutmann traveled Europe after receiving is MA degree in 1928. He had a very promising career as an artists and professor until, in 1933, Hitler invaded Germany. Being the son of a well-off Jewish family, John Guttman's world began crashing around him. He decided to migrate to the United States and a friend of his suggested heading to San Francisco. Prior to his departure, Gutmann purchased a camera, self-taught the medium by reading the owner's manual and began work as a photojournalist. He signed on with Presse-Foto in Berlin with the idea of shooting images in America to be sent back home to Germany.
Upon arriving in San Francisco, Gutmann was dumbstruck by the raw photographic material available to him. Hailing from war-torn Europe, he was amazed by the people from different backgrounds living side by side with each other. He brought the experience of his keen foreign eye into play and photographed life as it happened. Images from the 30s through the 50s brought us the every man as Americans enjoyed life as best they could through the depression and World War. Cars, signs, clothing and street life told the story of time. Gutmann captured the essence of any given moment, cropping the images for maximum effect. He didn't really give up his art, either, he was on display staring in 1934, and by the following year, he began teaching part time art at San Francisco State College.
From the late 30s into the 60s, John Gutmann's work was published in major magazines such as "Saturday Evening Post", "Life" and "Time". All applauded his works. In the 40s, he was a staff photographer for "The Dispatch" at Camp Roberts, California as he served with the U.S. Army Signal Corps using still and motion pictures. He went on to serve in Asia on the Psychological Warfare Team. By 1946 he was back home in San Francisco and began teaching photography at the University. His audience was captured by the sheer simplistic power of his images. He was "seeing American through an outsider's eyes - the automobiles, the speed, the freedom, the graffiti," John explained the 80s, "[recorded] the almost bizarre, exotic qualities of the country." This is how he was given his groundbreaking reputation.
John Gutmann continued to be a world traveler and professor for the rest of his life. He caught the laughs, the cries, the downtrodden, and the elite. His mind's eye found beauty in garages, concerts, festivals, and the common passers-by. John Gutmann's photographs were published many times over as we became entangled in his web of images and life. He passed away in 1998 with his estate being handled by the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson. - 15437
John Gutmann was born in Breslau, Germany in 1905. He originally studied art under the Master Expressionist Otto Mueller. He loved what he could produce through his paintings and by 1927, he was exhibiting his work at Schlesischer Kunsterbund and the Museum der Bildenden Kuntse in Breslau. John Gutmann traveled Europe after receiving is MA degree in 1928. He had a very promising career as an artists and professor until, in 1933, Hitler invaded Germany. Being the son of a well-off Jewish family, John Guttman's world began crashing around him. He decided to migrate to the United States and a friend of his suggested heading to San Francisco. Prior to his departure, Gutmann purchased a camera, self-taught the medium by reading the owner's manual and began work as a photojournalist. He signed on with Presse-Foto in Berlin with the idea of shooting images in America to be sent back home to Germany.
Upon arriving in San Francisco, Gutmann was dumbstruck by the raw photographic material available to him. Hailing from war-torn Europe, he was amazed by the people from different backgrounds living side by side with each other. He brought the experience of his keen foreign eye into play and photographed life as it happened. Images from the 30s through the 50s brought us the every man as Americans enjoyed life as best they could through the depression and World War. Cars, signs, clothing and street life told the story of time. Gutmann captured the essence of any given moment, cropping the images for maximum effect. He didn't really give up his art, either, he was on display staring in 1934, and by the following year, he began teaching part time art at San Francisco State College.
From the late 30s into the 60s, John Gutmann's work was published in major magazines such as "Saturday Evening Post", "Life" and "Time". All applauded his works. In the 40s, he was a staff photographer for "The Dispatch" at Camp Roberts, California as he served with the U.S. Army Signal Corps using still and motion pictures. He went on to serve in Asia on the Psychological Warfare Team. By 1946 he was back home in San Francisco and began teaching photography at the University. His audience was captured by the sheer simplistic power of his images. He was "seeing American through an outsider's eyes - the automobiles, the speed, the freedom, the graffiti," John explained the 80s, "[recorded] the almost bizarre, exotic qualities of the country." This is how he was given his groundbreaking reputation.
John Gutmann continued to be a world traveler and professor for the rest of his life. He caught the laughs, the cries, the downtrodden, and the elite. His mind's eye found beauty in garages, concerts, festivals, and the common passers-by. John Gutmann's photographs were published many times over as we became entangled in his web of images and life. He passed away in 1998 with his estate being handled by the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson. - 15437
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