Background
Otto Steinert was born on July 12, 1915, in Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany.
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Otto Steinert was born on July 12, 1915, in Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany.
Otto Steinert studied medicine at various universities (1934-1939), taking his final examinations and degree in Berlin, 1939, at the surgical clinic of Charité.
Otto Steinert was a medical officer during the war, then practiced privately until 1948. During his studies and early career, he pursued an interest in modern art and photography, initially making photographs to support his medical career. Eventually, Otto Steinert was engaged as a photography teacher at the Staatlichen Schule für Kunst und Handwerk in Saarbrücken. In 1952 he became headmaster of the school, and in 1954 Otto Steinert was made a full professor. In 1959 he accepted a professorship at the Folkwangschule für Gestaltung (now Folkwang University of the Arts) in Essen-Werden, where he remained until his death.
Internationally exhibited since 1951, in that year Otto Steinert mounted his innovative exhibit "Subjektive Fotografie," which launched his career and established him as a pacemaker in the field of art photography. Since that time and until his death he won numerous awards.
Steinert's work is known for its formalistic severity in a decided, overidentified scale of black-and-white tones. A master of photographic technique in all its variations.
Quotes from others about the person
Wrote Paul Vogt: "Otto Steinert used the heritage of Renger-Patzsch and Moholy-Nagy to create a new style "emancipated from formalism and without any false attitude; in this way, he emphasized the subjective pretension of the photograph.""