Fred Stein

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Fred Stein, photographed in Paris by his wife Lilo, ca.1937

Alfred Stein (later Fred Stein , born July 3, 1909 in Dresden ; died September 27, 1967 in New York City ) was a pioneer of 35mm photography. In particular, his photo reports from the streets of Paris from the 1930s and his portraits of Albert Einstein brought Stein world fame.

Life

Fred Stein was the son of Rabbi Leopold Stein and Eva Wollheim Stein. At the age of 16 he joined the socialists in Dresden. In 1933 he finished his law studies at the University of Leipzig . At the beginning of the year, when the National Socialists seized power, he was handing out anti-fascist leaflets from his bicycle.

In August 1933 he married Liselotte "Lilo" Salzburg, the daughter of a Jewish doctor. A little later investigations by the SS began and the couple emigrated to Paris under the pretext of going on their honeymoon in Paris. There Stein began to take photos with a Leica - the couple's wedding present for each other. His photographs of street scenes, often abstract, are attributed to modern art. He later said that the Leica had taught him how to take pictures.

Fred Stein's temporary passport before leaving for the USA

The Steins were part of a scene of intellectual emigrants in Paris. They themselves often took in refugees from Germany in their homes. Among other things, the future German Chancellor Willy Brandt was a guest there.

After the Nazi attack on France in 1940, the couple went into hiding. Together with their daughter Ruth, born on August 17, 1938, the Steins managed to escape from Paris to Marseille on May 7, 1941 , where they crossed over to New York on the French ocean liner SS Winnipeg .

The son Peter was born there on October 12, 1943 , who later became known as a cameraman and who today manages his father's estate.

Fred Stein continued his career in the USA with a medium format camera ( Rolleiflex ). His reputation as a photographer with a clear, puristic black and white style opened the doors to numerous artists, politicians and scientists for him. He died in New York in 1967 at the age of 58. His pictures can now be seen in major museums around the world, such as the National Portrait Gallery (Washington) and the Jewish Museum Berlin .

Exhibitions

Fred Stein's portrait photo of Albert Einstein on a stamp "100 Years of Relativity - Atoms - Quanta", 2005

literature

  • Erika Eschebach, Helena Weber: Fred Stein. Dresden - Paris - New York. Sandstein Verlag, Dresden 2018, ISBN 978-3-95498-365-0 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Liselotte Stein, born June 23, 1910 in Dresden; † November 1997. Professor of German Drama and Literature at Adelphi University in Garden City, Long Island, New York. She completed her PhD in German Literature at New York University . Lilo Stein also worked as a retoucher of her husband's photos.
  2. ↑ Ruth Calderon-Gutierrez, Professor Emeritus of Spanish at the University of Staten Island, New York
  3. ↑ Fred Stein. Modern Times . In: ART | DATES . ( artdates.de [accessed April 4, 2018]).
personal data
SURNAME Stone, fred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stein, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photographer
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd July 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Dresden
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1967
Place of death New York City , New York