Roman Vishniac Rediscovered

About this book

Emphasizing Roman Vishniacs prodigious talents as one of the great documentary photographers of the 20th century this volume presents the full range of his artistic genius. Drawn from the International Center of Photographys vast holdings of work by Roman Vishniac (18971990) this generously illustrated and expansive volume offers a new and profound consideration of this key modernist photographer. In addition to featuring Vishniacs best-known workthe iconic images of Jewish life in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust this publication also introduces many previously unpublished photographs spanning more than six decades of Vishniacs work. These include newly discovered images of prewar Berlin rare film footage from rural Jewish communities in Carpatheina Ruthania documentation of postwar ruins and Displaced Persons camps and vivid coverage of Jewish life in America in the 1940s and 50s. Essays by world-renowned scholars of photography Jewish history and culture address these newfound images and consider them in the context of modernist tendencies in Berlin in the 1920s and 30s; the rise of Nazi power in Germany and Eastern Europe; the uses of social documentary photography for relief organizations; the experiences of exile displacement and assimilation; and the impact of Vishniacs pioneering scientific research in color photomicroscopy in the 1950s and 60s. This first retrospective monograph on Roman Vishniac offers many new perspectives on the work and career of this important photographer positioning him as one of the great modernists and social documentary photographers of the last century.