PHOTOGRAPHS
Brandt, Bill [Hermann Wilhelm]
Germany / England (1904 - 1983)
Parlourmaid and Under-Parlourmaid Ready to Serve Dinner
1939
Gelatin silver print
13 1/2 x 11 7/16 in. (34.3 x 29.1 cm) image and sheet size
Joseph and Elaine Monsen Photography Collection, gift of Joseph and Elaine Monsen and The Boeing Company
FA 97.215

Bill Brandt first came to wide attention in 1936 with the publication of his photographic essay The English Home. The book attempted to illustrate the persistence of a rigid class system in modern Britain by exploring social types and stereotypes. This picture marks Brandt's return to the study of social and economic stratification after several years of experimentation with landscapes and images of the nude. In it, two modern women bonded in servitude wait at table in the midst of incredible material excess. -- Label copy for The Photographic Impulse: A Critical History of Photography, The Joseph and Elaine Monsen Collection, Cincinnati Art Museum, October 12, 2001 to January 6, 2002.