Adolf Schneeberger

Adolf Schneeberger (Czech, 1897-1977) studied mechanical engineering at the Czech Technical College in Prague from 1914, then served in the First World War from 1915 to 1918, resuming his studies in 1918. He took up printing in 1928. Schneeberger started his photographic career as a protagonist of art-nouveau modernism but soon adopted Růžička’s purism, including the employment of soft-focus lenses to enhance the visual effect of his shots. Schneeberger was one of the main exponents of the New School of the 1920’s, tending towards the New Objectivity and New Photography around 1930. The major part of Schneeberger’s oeuvre is typified by simplicity and compositional constructivism, which are characteristic features of the mainstream of Czech interwar photography, at which he excelled.