The archives of the Saxon photographer Karl Spieß (1891-1945) were to be disposed of in a dump in East Germany in 1986. Photographers Dietmar and Marga Riemann managed to save a few hundred of the glass plate negatives. They then smuggled the plates into the west of Germany.
This book contains more than 100 of those pictures. Only few of them originated in the studio, most of them show people in their everyday environment, e.g. on bicycles or with their cattle to be slaughtered, on a coach or on a factory chimney. From today's perspective, they look like photographs from a different world.
"A compelling body of previously unknown work from the same era and style as August Sander. Karl Spieß offers masterful glimpses into a bygone era and its people - a treasure saved from destruction". - Edward Burtynsky
** 50% of the proceeds from this book are donated to the Red Cross **
