Spiegelung zwischen dünnem Eis, Beginnender Winter (Reflection from Thin Ice, Incipient Winter), c. 1930

Josef Albers, best known for his paintings and color theory work, explored photography most seriously from the late 1920s to the early 1930s, while studying and working at the Bauhaus. Albers likely created the present image during his time at the Dessau Bauhaus, which existed from 1925 until 1932, before closing due to pressures from the Nazi regime. Unlike the collages that Albers was making during this period, this photograph exists on its own, demonstrating a more meditative and evocative aesthetic gesture.