Maria Schreker by Frieda Riess (1923)

Frieda Riess (1890-1954) ~ Maria Schreker, née Binder, opera Singer, wife of the composer Franz Schreker. Portrait in the main role in the opera ‘Der Schatzgräber’ (The Treasure Hunter), 1923 | src getty images view on wordPress

Berlin act, ca. 1925 - by Frieda Gertrud Riess (1890 - 1955), German

Frieda Gertrud Riess :: Portrait of actress Rosamond Pinchot 1930

Frieda Gertrud Riess.  Serge Lifar, Berlin, c. 1920.

Sculptor Renée Sintenis by Frieda Gertrud Riess, 1925. Source

The Sculptor Renée Sintenis, 1925

Frieda Gertrud Riess

Frieda Gertrude Riess

Sirena Beard-Galati, “The New Woman Behind The Camera”

A current solo photograph exhibition I attended was “The New Woman Behind The Camera” at the MET. Although the title of this exhibition might be deceiving, suggesting the beginnings of a movement, it is rather a study of a diverse group of women photographers during the 1920s-1950s. Of the 189 pieces of work in the show, the two photographs I selected are Frieda Gertrud Riess’s “The Sculpture Reneé” (approx 10”x8”),  printed in 1925, and   Shu Ye’s “ Niu Weiyu  (approx 5”x5) with Camera” printed in the 1960s. Both are printed on  gelatine Silver print. The gallery welcomes the visitor with a documentary of selected female photographers speaking about their work. Beyond the screen there is a second introduction to the exhibition describing the genre and period in time of the body of work.  The photographs themselves appeared on a stark white wall as a backdrop. Most of the pieces were in black and white. The New Women of the 1920s (also referred to as neua Frau  modan gāru and Xin Nüxing), illustrates how advances in the modern photo revolution enabled female exposure in the arts.

Riess' piece echoes the work of bronze figurines through the subjects’ expression and pose. The tonality of the sepia style photograph hints at sculptural art  in its capture of dimension and theme. The stoic female figure possesses a subtle luminosity  like that of a figurine that is well maintained by its curator. The portrait of Reneé Sintenis echoes the shape of a sculpture, sculpted to precision, her arms wrapped around her body, shadows line the curves of her arms, while her head is angled.

Niu Weiyu was a photographer who worked for the Chinese Communist Party. She was first hired by the Communist party in 1947 and “later managed several outposts of news agency Xinhua”. In 1982, prior to retiring Weiyu turned her attention to geography. The photographer's dimensions are very small, and her piece looks like it has been cut vertically. It has the artisanal quality   of a handmade craft, because it is glued to a piece of creme colored paper. The mountainous image as backdrop wraps its arms around Weiyu as she steps out onto the edge of the cliff. There is a feel for discovery and wonder in the way she observes her surroundings, holding her camera. Two figures stand on a bridge, below her, seeing the land from a different perspective and amplifying scale. 

Riess is creating her own sculpture through the lense of photography, another form of documenting something that can last forever.  Although this piece is allocated as a portrait, it gives a pedestal to the beauty of the female subject in its messages of strength through tone and texture. Riess amplifies what it means to be female by dispensing with flounce and fancy and other stereotypes of the day.

The photograph of Weiyu suggests this search and curiosity for life, the greater outdoors. It is a more rugged depiction of female strength in the way it harnesses the brutalism of nature as its backdrop. Shu Ye’s photograph galvanized Weiyu’s passion and vision through art- It is a celebration of her strength and resilience of a life lived within the orbit of  communism and her later freedom to celebrate landscape and nature.

Frieda Gertrude Riess

https://haztufocotemporal.wordpress.com/2019/02/22/frieda-gertrude-riess/

Toni Freeden by Frieda Riess

Frieda Gertrud Riess (1890-1954) ~ German dancer Toni Freeden in a dancing pose, 1927 | src getty images view more on wordPress

Frieda Gertrude Riess

Un monde photographique à découvrir géré avec passion, par la petite mélancolie Frieda Gertrude Riess Publié par Lapetitemelancolie le 22/02/2019

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Frieda Gertrud Riess

The Sculptor Renée Sintenis (Die Bildhauerin Renée Sintenis) Gelatin silver print, 1925-35

via: MoMA