[1] Sander was involved in the artistic scene of Cologne, in the 1920s, which included painters like Max Ernst, Heinrich Hoerle, Anton Räderscheidt and his wife, Marta Hegemann.
[1][2][3][4] The current photograph presents Räderscheidt alone, with his arms and hands visible, dressed in a suit and coat, and with a bowler hat, staring at the viewer, with an inquisitive expression, in a desert cityscape of Cologne, which serves has the background.
Buildings are seem at his left, but the sidewalks and the street seem totally empty of human presence, which increases the sense of isolation of the figure.
Sander seems to have taken inspiration from Räderscheidt own paintings, where he often depicts men with bowler hats, sometimes in the company of a woman, in a lone urban environment.
"[1] A print of the variant of the photograph where the artist appears with his hands behind his back, which is more rare, was sold by $269,000 at Sotheby's New York, on 12 December 2014.