roads by Werner Mantz - provinciale wegen in Limburg 1938-1940

Werner Mantz was born on April 28th, 1901. During the next 100 years, he was to become a photographer of international importance and significance. The Werner Mantz foundation wishes to mark this date with the publication of this book and the presentation, for the fourth time, of the prize for photography, named after the photographer. This year's theme of the prize, 'Urbanity and the photographer's strategy, induced us to exhibit and publish the photographs of the provincial roads in Limburg during all four seasons which Werner Mantz, by the end of the 1930's, was commissioned to make by the province's public works department. In Werner Mantz' photographs there are already many elements which foreshadow the urbanization of our environment: roads straightened out and macadamized, cycle tracks, foot paths, road signs, bollards et cetera. Originally the photographs were to be mere illustrations to a bulky report, but they turn out to be much more than just reproductions of reality. Somehow everything that was touched by Mantz the photographer turned into poetry. It goes without saying that a poet should shed his light on these seemingly prosaic images. In a very special way this book introduces the provincial roads at that time to a broader audience. Simultaneously, it emphasizes the importance of Werner Mantz' photography.