Hajo Rose is one of the last students at the Bauhaus, who received their diplomas on April 1, 1933 right before the closing of the legendary school. After studying at the School of Arts and Crafts in Königsberg from 1929-1930, Rose, who was born in Mannheim, began his studies at the Bauhaus with Josef Albers in his introductory course. In addition, Rose studied in the advertisement studio of Joost Schmidt and photography with Walter Peterhans, where he worked with his own large-format plate camera and also a Leica camera.

The self-portrait as “light montage”—cross-faded with the façade of the Bauhaus building complex—was produced at the beginning of Rose’s Bauhaus period. In fact, the Bauhaus building complex figured broadly in Rose’s photography, for example, as a background of a snapshot or constructive element. Looking back, Rose described his heartfelt fascination of the atmosphere surrounding the Bauhaus as a freshman at the famous school: “When I saw the building complex of the Bauhaus in Dessau for the first time, I felt that here, a particular philosophical mindset becomes apparent. Finally, a house made of steel and glass. Practical and rational like a ship, without any adornments, elegant. An expression of a futuristic world, which is not a utopia but something that creates a kind of trust. Open-minded, clear, radiant, and translucent ; pure, fresh and young like we used to be back then. A perfect equivalent. I was deeply moved. The bold school complex designed by Walter Gropius made a similar impression on all the Bauhaus apprentices and their masters providing them with inspiration whether at day or night.” (Quote from Rose, Hajo. “Ich lernte am Bauhaus fotografieren”. In: Fotografie No. 11, Dresden, 1979 p. 404.)

It seems as if Rose expressed his exaltation for the Bauhaus in his self-portrait by literally translating it into the photographic image through abstracting and cross-fading the distinctive façade of the Bauhaus with the representation of his countenance. Rose’s photograph embodied the Bauhaus’ experimental aesthetic, a major element of the photography taught at the famous school, so tellingly that the image was chosen for the cover of the first important anthology about the subject published by the Edition Marzona in 1982. Yet, similar strategies were used by other Bauhaus students such as Lotte Beese in a portrait of Otti Berger with the studio building (around circa 1930) or Kurt Kranz in his self-portrait Portrait in front of the Bauhaus (1928-29) depicting also the school’s distinctive nameplate..

From the artists estate to the present owner

Bauhaus-Fotografie, Edition Marzona, Bielefeld 1982, Umschlag and ill. 68, p. 58
Photographie und Bauhaus, ed. by Carl Haenlein, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover 1987, p. 197
Bauhaus-Fotografie, Aus der Sammlung der Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, ed. by Lutz Schöbe, Florenz 2004, ill. 110, p. 121