Paul Heaven
Paul Himmel (born April 1914 in New Haven (Connecticut) , † February 8, 2009 ) is one of the most important photographers from the early era of American photography. His focus was on fashion photography and documentary photography .
life and work
In 1923 Paul Himmel met Lillian Bassman , whom he married in 1935. As early as 1931, Himmel began autodidactically with photography. First, however, he completed an academic training. After studying science and biology, he began teaching at Benjamin Franklin High School in East Harlem. In the summer of 1945 he began to work as a photographer's assistant in the New York Vogue studios and ended his teaching activities for the time being. In the same year he started working professionally. He received his first jobs as a fashion photographer from Vogue , Harper's Bazaar and later other magazines.
His work is characterized by a great willingness to experiment. Paul Himmel was constantly researching new recording techniques and exceeded the previously known rules and limits of photography. He mainly experimented with slow shutter speeds and movement. His recordings of the New York City Ballet, made in the 1950s, do not capture movement in still images (“frozen” movement), but in motion studies. Paul Himmel developed his photography into art photography so much that he could no longer find any commercial clients and ended his photographic career in 1969. He then worked as a psychotherapist.
Exhibitions
- " The Family of Man " (1955 at the Museum of Modern Art) was one of the first exhibitions that made Himmel known.
- Howard Greenberg Gallery and James Danziger Gallery, New York City, 1996
- The first joint retrospective with his and his wife Lillian Bassman's works was shown from November 27, 2009 to February 28, 2010 in the Deichtorhallen , Hamburg-
- 2012: Two lives for photography-Lilian Bassman and Paul Himmel . Grassi Museum for Applied Art , Leipzig, catalog.
Web links
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Heaven, Paul |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American photographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New Haven, Connecticut |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 8, 2009 |