Born Gertrud Hantschk in Ratibor (then Upper Silesia) in September 1903, Arndt began her artistic studies as a student at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Erfurt.

[2] Her interest in photography developed while serving at an architectural office in Erfurt, where she learned darkroom techniques and began taking photographs of local buildings.

[6] Later that year, she married fellow student, and architect, Alfred Arndt, who was appointed full-time master of the Bauhaus construction workshop in Dessau in 1929.

Although no longer a student, Arndt remained active in Bauhaus events and enrolled in Walter Peterhan's newly created photography course.

[4] Over the five years when she took an active interest in photography, she captured herself and her friends in various styles, costumes and settings in the series known as Maskenportäts (Masked Portraits).

"[8] Arndt's photographic style itself was likewise unique, and defied the usual aspects of modernist photography, which often included extreme angles, constructivist mirroring, or geometric simplifications.

[9] In January 2013, the Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung in Tiergarten (Berlin) presented an exhibition of Gertrud Arndt's textiles and photographs.