Hans Casparius

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Hans Casparius (born July 15, 1900 in Berlin , † May 16, 1986 in London-Barnet, Middlesex ; full name: Hans Gustav Casparius ) was a German photographer , documentary producer , still photographer and silent film actor .

Live and act

The early years in film

Casparius came from a wealthy family and originally thought of becoming an actor. In fact, since his early contacts with the German silent film from 1927 onwards, he was given small roles in productions by Johannes Guter , Ernő Metzner and Georg Wilhelm Pabst . His best-known appearance was in 1929 the car racing driver Graf Sternberg, who died in a sabotage attack in the drama Rivals in the world record . On the side, however, he primarily devoted himself to photography and was repeatedly employed as a still photographer for film, especially by his sponsor Pabst.

In 1930 Casparius began another cinematic activity, this time as a documentarist. A trip to the north of Morocco resulted in a total of four short documentaries in which Casparius, as a total film maker, took over the direction, camera, production and recording management in one person. Another documentary made by Casparius followed at the end of the Weimar Republic with Ginster auf Hiddensee . As a result of the seizure of power by the NSDAP left Casparius Germany and went temporarily to Austria, where he last time on two feature films ( Grand Duchess Alexandra and Voices of Spring ) was involved as a still photographer. Also in the spring of 1933, the Berliner went to North Africa again with the travel writer Arnold Höllriegel as a companion, this time to the Libyan Sahara , where he made the cultural film Nomads of the Desert .

As a photographer

Even before he went into exile, the autodidact had made a name for himself as an everyday photographer and portraitist. "No big poses in front of the camera, but showing the close proximity between the photographer and the portrayed: That is the fascination that emanates from the portraits of the renowned photographer of the Weimar Republic, Hans Casparius." Especially his artist portraits of film and theater professionals such as Elisabeth Bergner , Sybille Schmitz , Louise Brooks , Reinhold Schünzel , Rudolf Forster , Theo Lingen , Lotte Lenya , Carola Neher and Valeska Gert established his fame for a long time, but Casparius also repeatedly photographed normal people in everyday situations such as 1930 in London. Rabbi Leo Baeck , the composer Kurt Weill and the founder of psychoanalysis , Sigmund Freud , were also photographed by Casparius.

After the annexation of Austria , Casparius fled again in 1938 and finally settled in Great Britain , where London became his new home. Here, too, from then on he concentrated entirely on his work as a photographer and was now finally a contemporary witness of the century. In 1978 his old homeland, Germany, dedicated an exhibition to him in the Staatliche Kunsthalle Berlin ; the 78-year-old was present at the opening of the exhibition.

Filmography

  • 1927: The Big Leap (still photographer)
  • 1928: Free travel (still photographer)
  • 1928: The Blue Mouse (actor)
  • 1928: Police report robbery (actor, still photographer)
  • 1928: Pandora's box
  • 1929: Diary of a Lost Woman (actor)
  • 1929: The white hell of Piz Palü (still photos)
  • 1929: Rivals in world record (actors and stills)
  • 1930: Eva scandal (stills)
  • 1930: Art and artist in Morocco (short film; director, camera, production, production management, production manager)
  • 1930: Country and people in Morocco (short film; director, camera, production, production manager, production manager)
  • 1930: Market day in Marrakech (short film; director, camera, production, production manager, production manager)
  • 1930: A day in Morocco (short film; director, camera, production, production manager, production manager)
  • 1930: Ariane (stills)
  • 1931: The Threepenny Opera (stills)
  • 1931: The zinc man (still photos)
  • 1932: Scandal in Parkstrasse (stills)
  • 1932: Gypsies of the Night (stills)
  • 1932: Gorse rush on Hiddensee (short film; director, camera, production, screenplay, editing)
  • 1933: Nomads of the Desert (short film; director, camera, production, screenplay, editor)
  • 1933: Grand Duchess Alexandra (still photos)
  • 1933: Voices of Spring (still photos)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ numerous sources name the year 1985 but the English death register clearly shows the year 1986, see findmypast.co.uk and Hans G. Casparius on ancestry.co.uk. See also obituary in The Times, May 19, 1986
  2. ^ Casparius recording by Höllriegel (alias Richard A. Bermann) from March 15, 1933 , in: Künste im Exil
  3. ^ Edition text + criticism
  4. ^ Exhibition at the Tate Gallery

literature

  • Wolfgang Jacobsen (Ed.): Hans Casparius. Touched by the camera. People, faces, feelings. Berlin 2014.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Casparius, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Casparius, Hans Gustav (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photographer, silent film actor and still film photographer
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1986
Place of death London Barnet (Middlesex)