[Entrance to ADA Cheese Factory in Cologne-Rodenkirchen]

1929

Not on view

Architectural photographer Werner Mantz trained a camera on the storefronts and sidewalks of his native Cologne, adapting modernist techniques to a changing local landscape. Though he worked exclusively on commission, Mantz elevated his most mundane corporate jobs to formalist studies in shadow and line. To wit, this refined photograph pictures a factory where molten processed cheese was mixed and pressed into tubes. Inspired, perhaps, by that combinatory method, Mantz made his print from three different negatives, reconstructing the site’s entryway to enliven its design. His handiwork is visible in the sign overhead, where the building’s cornice overlaps unnaturally with the iron letterforms. Whether a simple oversight or a sly wink from the darkroom, this clue finds Mantz reimagining the role of a photographer for hire.

Artwork Details

Title: [Entrance to ADA Cheese Factory in Cologne-Rodenkirchen]
Artist: Werner Mantz (German, Cologne 1901–1983 Eijsden)
Date: 1929
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 16.8 x 22.7 cm. (6 5/8 x 8 15/16 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987
Object Number: 1987.1100.254
Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Curatorial Department: Photographs

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H.W. Reitz, Architect

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[Residential Apartment Block, Balconies, Kalkerfeld, Cologne], Werner Mantz German, Gelatin silver print — [Residential Apartment Block, Balconies, Kalkerfeld, Cologne]
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[House Grobel (Haus Grobel), Residence of Dr. Emil Grobel, built 1926–27. Architect: Hans Heinz Lüttgen.], Werner Mantz German, Gelatin silver print — [House Grobel (Haus Grobel), Residence of Dr. Emil Grobel, built 1926–27. Architect: Hans Heinz Lüttgen.]
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Konzertsaal, Werner Mantz German, Gelatin silver print — Konzertsaal
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