Helmar Lerski
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Helmar Lerski (February 18, 1871, Strasbourg - September 19, 1956, Zürich) was a photographer who laid some of the important foundations of modern photography. His works are on display in the USA, Germany, Israel and Switzerland. He focused mainly on portraits and the technique of photography with mirrors.
His real name was Israel Schmuklerski. The family moved in 1876 to Zurich, Switzerland, where the family was naturalized. In 1888, Lerski emigrated to the United States, where he worked as an actor. Around 1910, he began to photograph. In 1915, he returned to Europe and worked as a cameraman and expert for special effects for many films, including Fritz Lang's Metropolis. At the end of the 1920s, he made a name as an avant-garde portrait photographer.
In 1932, he emigrated with his second wife to Palestine, where he continued to work as a photographer, cameraman, and film director. On March 22, 1948, they left Palestine and settled again in Zurich.
[edit] Photographic work
- Series Köpfe des Alltags: 1928 - 1930, published 1931
- Series Metamorphosen: 1936, published 1982
[edit] Publications
- Lerski, H.: Köpfe des Alltags, Berlin: Verlag Hermann Rockendorf, 1931.
- Ebner, F.: Metamorphosen des Gesichts. Die "Verwandlungen durch Licht" von Helmar Lerski. Steidl Verlag, Göttingen 2002. ISBN 3882438088.
- Eskildsen, U. (ed.); Lerski, H.: Verwandlungen durch Licht. Metamorphosis through Light,, Freren: Luca, 1982.
- Eskildsen, U.; Horak, J.-C.: Helma Lerski, Lichtbildner. Fotografien und Filme 1910-1947, Folkwang Essen 1982.
[edit] External links
- Helmar Lerski: Metamorphose, in German.
- Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany. In German.
- Article about Metamorphosen, Art Magazin, 2002.
- Some images from Köpfe des Alltags at the George Eastman House.
- Loewy, R.: Adamah - Helmar Lerski's letzter Film. In German.
