Max Seidel (photojournalist)
Max Seidel (born January 1, 1904 in Plauen , Saxony, † April 12, 1993 in Mittenwald ) was a German photo editor and photographer.
Life
After an apprenticeship as a reinforced concrete specialist, Max Seidel attended the arts and crafts school in Dresden from 1920 to 1922, where he studied graphic techniques and photography. A subsequent three-year photo trip took him through Lapland, Palestine, Egypt and Turkey. He managed to sell his reports to illustrated magazines, he became a photo reporter and referred to himself as a “photo reporter”.
As an employee of the photo agency Globophot 1926/27 in Berlin, he mainly made recordings of theater performances and exhibitions for publication in magazines. In 1929 he bought the house “zur Höll” with photo studio from Robert Gogol in Diessenhofen (Thurgau), Switzerland. In the same year he married his long-time girlfriend Marianne Wiese. Seidel was soon recognized as a photographer in Diessenhofen and the surrounding area. From 1931 he was a member of the photography staff of the Züricher Illustrierte. From 1935 to 1936 he made documentaries about Diessenhofen and a film about the circuit car races in Bern.
From 1937 Seidel applied for Swiss citizenship. Due to the hopeless attempts to become Swiss and to find enough work, the family finally had to return to Germany in 1939 and moved to Mittenwald in Bavaria. He became a soldier in 1940 and joined the mountain troops. After his release from captivity, Seidel worked again as a photographer in Mittenwald in 1946.
In 1948 his book “Ad gloriam dei - New Pictures from the Benedictine Monastery Ettal” was published. Seidel also worked as a photo reporter for illustrated magazines. From 1949 to 1959 he worked from Mittenwald for the Upper Baden Angora Works in Hauingen near Lörrach. In the years 1965 to 1985 Seidel published numerous art books on Bruegel, Bosch, Grünewald, Goya etc., mostly published by Belser Verlag in Stuttgart in collaboration with well-known art historians.
Max Seidel took photos until three weeks before his death, most recently mainly nature photos. In 1993 Max Seidel died in Mittenwald at the age of 89.
Publications (selection)
- Max Seidel and Roger H. Marijektiven: " Bruegel ", Belser Verlag Stuttgart, 1969.
- Max Seidel (ed.): " Mathis Gothart Nithart Grünewald - The Isenheimer Altar", Heinrich Geissler , Bernhard Saran, Joseph Harnest , Adalbert Mischlewski, foreword Oto Bihalji-Merin , Belser Verlag Stuttgart, 1973.
- Max Seidel and Oto Bihalji-Merin : "Francisco Goya", Belser Verlag Stuttgart, 1980.
- Max Seidel and Edwin Maria Landau : Altdorfer , Leidensweg - Heilsweg, the Passion Altar of St. Florian . Belser, Stuttgart 1983.
Films (selection)
- Max Seidel: "Diessenhofen - Part 1", silent film with subtitles, 16 mm black and white film, 1935.
- Max Seidel: "Diessenhofen - Part 2", silent film with subtitles, 16 mm black and white film, 1935.
- Peter Emmer: "Max Seidel - Portrait of an Art Photographer in Mittenwald", documentary of the Bavarian Radio for Seidel's 80th birthday, 1984.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Seidel, Max |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German photo reporter and photographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 1, 1904 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Plauen , Saxony |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 12, 1993 |
| Place of death | Mittenwald |