Lot 4256: Mieth, Hansel Portrait of Hansel Mieth

Photographer: Otto Hagel (1909 - 1973). Portrait of the photographer Hansel Mieth (1909 - 1998). Late 1930s. Vintage ferrotyped gelatin silver print. 29 x 38,5 cm (30,5 x 40,5 cm). Flush-mounted to paper, dedicated and signed by Hansel Mieth in ink on the verso. The photographers Johanna (Hansel) Mieth and Otto Hagel played a large role in the development of social documentary practice and photojournalism in the United States. Both were German emigrés and at the time they arrived in the US in 1928/30 there were only jobs which involved hard labor and living and working with the immigrant workers. This gave their photojournalistic work a very close and honest side. In 1936 Mieth became a staff photographer for LIFE and her work was an important part of the magazine for the next decade. - Some buckling from glue on verso, some retouched spots, a few crease marks, slight discoloration.