Arbeiter Illustrierte Zeitung, vol. 9, no. 6, 1930

John Heartfield|Willi Münzenberg

1930 · Photomechanical print · Photographs

Heartfield published his political photomontages, many of which savagely satirized the Nazi regime, in AIZ. In this widely disseminated workers' newspaper (500,000 readers in 1931), the deceptively realistic montages appeared cheek-by-jowl with straight documentary photographs. That Heartfield understood the propaganda power of the press is also evident in this montage, which shows a trussed man smothered by the (socialist) newspapers Tempo and Vorwärts (Forward). The caption states: "Those who read bourgeois newspapers will become blind and deaf. Away with these blinders!"

Artist

John Heartfield|Willi Münzenberg

Date

1930

Medium

Photomechanical print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987