Pan (C–221)

Born and trained in Germany, Breuer reacted against the large-format German photography that dominated in his student days, characterized by deadpan subject matter, laborious digital editing, and meticulous printing. He chose by contrast to omit the camera and—in some instances—light as well, instead making marks directly on photographic paper using tools such as sandpaper, drills, shotguns, irons, and razor blades. “I think that photographers tend to find the longest way to the image,” he has said, “and what I am after is the other end of the spectrum, the shortest way, the most direct, immediate interaction with photographic material.” Eroding the paper’s surface, and avoiding all the usual photographic equipment (except for the chemicals needed in development), Breuer creates abstract images tied to his mark-making, and to the presence of the photograph as a physical object.