Johannes Schiffner

Johannes Schiffner lived in Berlin in the 1920s, where he walked everywhere with a Rolleiflex around his neck and shot whatever caught his eye—cobblestones, a puddle’s reflection, a woman’s shadow on a wall. He used no trick lenses or filters; his photographs feel like quick sketches in silver, not staged portraits. You’ll find his best stuff in the Berlinische Galerie’s online archive, where they’ve scanned his contact sheets so you can zoom in and watch his eye move.