Bricklayer, August Sander, 1928
By presenting doctors, farmers, chefs and beggars all with the same stark directness, the German-born Sander made everyone the everyman. “We can tell from appearance the work someone does or does not do; we can read in his face whether he is happy or troubled, for life unavoidably leaves its trace there.” Sander’s most celebrated portrait of a bricklayer in Cologne, Germany, embodies that insight.