Contributions to a History of Photography in Austria, volume 24.

Edited by Monika Faber for Photoinstitut Bonartes, Vienna, and Walter Moser for the Photographic Collection of the Albertina, Vienna

In May 1905, the Urania Adult Education Centre set new standards with its slide show “Through the Viennese Districts of Misery and Crime”: it produced one of the world’s first social reportages to rely on the power of photography. The stirring text by journalist Emil Kläger and the stark photographs by judge Hermann Drawe shed light on the dark side of industrialisation. They documented life in places the middle classes chose to ignore: the sewers, the brick kilns and the tenements. Reactions to this media spectacle ranged from pure sensationalism to deep consternation. With the presentation of photographic prints at the “General Hygiene Exhibition” in 1906 and the publication of the book in 1908, the authors lent additional weight to their cause across various media formats. In 1920, the subject finally found its way onto the cinema screen – featuring a star-studded cast from the Burgtheater.

Michael Ponstingl is a photo historian and curator at the Photoinstitut Bonartes, Vienna.