Heinz von Perckhammer was an Austrian photographer born in Merano (then Austria-Hungary) in 1895. He gained significant experience during World War I while serving aboard the SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth during the Siege of Tsingtao; he was subsequently held as a prisoner of war between 1917 and 1919. It was during his captivity that he developed an interest in photography. He remained in China for much of the 1920s, where he produced notable works including 'Edle Nacktheit in China' (1928), a collection of soft-focused, stylized photographs of women from Macao brothels. His work was later banned by the Nazis as 'Degenerate Art' (Entartete Kunst) and appeared on the List of Harmful and Undesirable Writing.[1,2]
