Creating Knowledge: The Amalgamation of Photography and Science in the Work of Photographer Fritz Goro (1901-1986).

• Applicant: Dr. Eva Castringius
• Subject Area: Theatre and Media Studies ; Art History
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 537555651

This research project aims to contribute a comprehensive monograph on the life and work of the German American photographer Fritz Goro (1901-1986). Against the background of such biography, the unique amalgamation of photography and science will be examined, as well as his pioneering work in the field of scientific photojournalism. Fritz Goro worked during the period of emerging photojournalism of the Weimar Republic. After completing his artistic training at the Bauhaus Weimar in the early twenties, he worked for major publishing houses in Berlin and Munich. He was one of the earliest German-Jewish photojournalists to leave Hitler's Germany in the mid-1930s. His escape in 1936 and emigration to the United States opened up new professional perspectives for him. He first worked as a photographer for the Black Star photo agency advancing to staff photographer for Life magazine in 1938. Over the years, he increasingly specialized in scientific photo essays and photographed groundbreaking scientific innovations in the fields of physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, medicine, and geology. In this research project Goro's photographic legacy will be examined from a photo-historical perspective. In addition to the didactic content of the images, his photographs will also be studied on their technical-medial developments, as well as epistemic and aesthetic styles and influences. His visualization methods will be analyzed according to his innovative photographic techniques. It is assumed that Goro's work generates valuable insights into his subjects of investigation that have so far eluded our knowledge.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants