Léon Herschtritt
Léon Herschtritt | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 May 1936 |
| Died | 21 November 2020 (aged 84) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Photographer |
Léon Herschtritt (4 May 1936 – 21 November 2020) was a French humanist photographer. He won the Niépce Prize as a young photographer in 1960.
Biography
Herschtritt was interned at the Drancy internment camp during World War II and the German occupation. His family escaped deportation due to his father's British nationality. After the war, he studied at the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie. He became active in his work during the 1960s and was part of the humanist photography movement. He was a member of the Club 30 x 40. He was mobilized for the Algerian War in 1958 before teaching photography as part of the national education system.
In 1960, Herschtritt published his first photo album, titled Les Gosses d'Algérie, which was published in the magazine Réalités.[1] It was exhibited at the Maison des Beaux-Arts in Paris.[2] He won the Niépce Prize for the album that same year.[3]
Herschtritt carried out a three-month long mission in Sub-Saharan Africa at the request of the Ministry of Cooperation in 1963. He took thousands of photographs on decolonization which were published in the ministry's library.[4] They were exhibited at the Musée de l'Homme before circulating across France and internationally.[5]
While in Paris, Herschtritt worked as a reporter-photographer for L'Obs, La Vie, and Réalités before becoming a freelance photographer and Paris correspondent for the Camera Press in London. In the 1970s, he abandoned photography and began to collect old photographs. He organized one of the first photojournalism auctions in 2001.
With his wife, Nicole, Herschtritt organized Le Bistrot de Montmartre in 1974. The café became a meeting place for Parisian photographers.
Léon Herschtritt died in Paris on 21 November 2020 at the age of 84.[6]
Awards
- Niépce Prize (1960)
- Prix Gens d'Images (1966)
Publications
- Au hasard des femmes (1966)
- La célébration des putains , selon l’Ancien et le Nouveau Testament (1968)
- Portfolio de 10 photographies sur le thème du couple (1974)
- amais deux fois le même regard (1996)
- Die Mauer, Berlin 1961 (2009)
- Léon Herschtritt, photographies (2012)
References
- ^ "Exposition : « Léon Herschtritt, Photographe à vie ! » à la Galerie Esther Woerdehoff". Gens d'Images (in French). 13 December 2016.
- ^ "Léon Herschtritt, Photographe à vie !". Paris Art (in French). December 2016.
- ^ "Léon Herschtritt". Les Rencontres d’Arles (in French).
- ^ "L'Afrique humaniste de Léon Herschtritt". La Gazette Drouot (in French). 24 November 2017.
- ^ "L'Afrique retrouvée de Léon Herschtritt". RFI (in French). 6 November 2017.
- ^ "In Memoriam : Léon Herschtritt (1936-2020)". The Eye of Photography.