Down Stairs

Elisabeth Hase German

Not on view

In this self-portrait, Hase appears to have tripped, or perhaps to have thrown herself, face-down on a flight of stairs. In her most intriguing work, including this example, the artist experimented with staged scenarios and narratives exploring feminine identity, as would Cindy Sherman half a century later. Another such self-portrait shows her enacting a tearful confession to an anonymous clergyman. Hase turned to photography after beginning her career in the early 1920s as a student of avant-garde graphic design and typography. Despite being a lesser-known photographer, she established a studio in Frankfurt and pursued a variety of subjects, including portraits and still lifes, street scenes, modern architectural views, and botanical studies.

Down Stairs, Elisabeth Hase (German, 1905–1991), Gelatin silver print

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