 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
LEHNERT & LANDROCK (f. 1904-1930 / act: Tunis & Cairo) |
Rudolf Franz Lehnert (Bohemia, Groß Aupa, 13 July 1878 - Tunisia, 16 January 1948) was a photographer. He was born in Groß Aupa (now Velká Úpa), then in Bohemia and now in the Czech Republic. He spent the last part of his life at Redeyef, Gafza Oasis, Tunisia, where he died. Ernst Heinrich Landrock (Saxony, Reinsdorf, 1878 - Switzerland, Kreuzlingen, 1966) was a photographer, based in Tunis, Leipzig and Cairo. Rudolf Franz Lehnert with Ernst Heinrich Landrock founded a photographic company in, successively, Tunis, Munich, Leipzig and Cairo, publishing the works as "Lehnert & Landrock".Lehnert and Landrock met in Switzerland in 1904. They were both 26 at the time, the former Bohemian, the latter German. Both had been dreaming of visiting and working in the Orient. German travel writers, explorers, archaeologists and anthropologists had done major studies of the Near East, especially in the 19 th century, and this may have influenced their decision to settle in Tunis the year of their meeting. After World War I, upon their return to the Mahgreb, they were again in Tunis, and later in Cairo. Indeed, the firm still exists in Cairo today under the same name. A relative of Landrock donated all the known plates to the Musée de l'Élysée in Lausanne.
There have been numerous articles and monographs about their work and increasingly L&L are becoming recognized as one of the best studios working in this area during this period. The photographs were, in fact, taken by Lehnert, while Landrock supplied the business acumen. Lehnert also worked for a brief period (1922-1924) in Algiers for Jouvet, although Jouvet's studio mark does not credit him. Lehnert made a body of independent work, mostly of male and female nudes. They are quite rare, though some have appeared at auctions, most recently in lots of male erotica including von Gloeden et al.
There are several distinguishing features to a Lehnert photograph. Desert scenes are simple, but formally composed reflecting his early training as a painter and art student. Lone figures, or a group of lone figures are usually dwarfed by sand dunes, forming one of his favorite motifs, the power and influence of the desert and nature over man. There is a large body of female nude work, and of eroticized male adolescent images.
The output of the firm was enormous. It included vintage photographs, heliogravures, original photographic postcards, heliogravure postcards, and contributions to innumerable books.
[Megakles Rogakos 12/2009]
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
CARDINAL, PHILIPPE Lehnert & Landrock: L'Orient d'un Photographe 1987 Favre, Lausanne
CHARLES FAVROD & ANDRÉ ROUVINEZ Lehnert & Landrock: Orient 1904-1930 1999 Marval, Paris
GABOUS, ABDELKRIM La Tunisie des Photographes 1975-1910 1994 Éditions du Cygne, Paris
PEREZ, NISSAN N. Focus East: Early Photography in the Near East 1839-1885 1988 Harry N. Abrams, New York
