STEIN, Fred - Paris. New York

New edition of 2013's photo book (ISBN no. 9783868284294) to compaign the actual xhibition 'Dresden. Paris. New York', Sprengel Museum Hannover

and the release of documentary film, called 'Lightout of Darkness. The Photography of Fred Stein'.

"I first met Fred STEIN when we were both refugees fighting the totalitarian Nazi regime through the rather poor means we had.
In his time he was very much in the avantgarde, a brilliant photographer inspired by his quest for justice and his concern for truth so clearly reflected in his photographs." (frei übersetzt, © Willy Brandt, 1983)



Fred STEIN (1909, Dresden – 1967, New York) was a master of the art of street photography.
As an early pioneer of the hand-held camera, he captured poignant moments in the street life of two of the world’s great cities: Paris and New York where he lived after fleeing from Nazi Germany.

This same immediacy infuses his penetrating portraits of the great personalities of the era, among them Albert Einstein, Georgia O’Keeffe, Marc Chagall, or the portraits of Gerda TARO & Robert CAPA, recovered in the legendary 'Mexican Suitcase'.
Fred STEIN’s images are a vital document of the 20th century and an important part of photo history.
"Virtuoso of the Leica, Fred STEIN is a largely unsung master of a generation of photographers whose talents were swept across Europe by the dark geopolitical events of the 1930s and 1940s, only to land in the safe haven of New York.
Captured with verve and wit, an eye for the poignant as well as the surprising, Fred STEIN's images of the urban life and iconic portraits of the luminaries of the 20th century are ripe for rediscovery.
With a selection of vintage prints spanning over three decades, 'Fred Stein. Paris. New York' will introduce 21st century audiences to the range of the photographer's work." (publisher's note, © Kehrer Verlag, 2013) 

About the photographer, Fred STEIN (1909-1967):
Born in Dresden, Fred STEIN and his wife immigrated to Paris in 1933 under the pressure of increasingly untenable conditions in Germany and his being unable to pursue his career as a lawyer. It was in the French capital that STEIN realized his vocation as a photographer.

Taking to the streets of Paris with a Leica that the couple bought for each other as a joint wedding present, Fred STEIN made images steeped in the poetry of the city - every bit the equal of his contemporaries Henri CARTIER-BRESSON, Ilse BING, and André KERTÉSZ.
Whether depicting a lonely figure along the quays of the Seine or the abstract plays of light on a cobblestoned intersection filtered through the 'new vision' of the era, the photographs from the 1930s show how sensitively attuned STEIN was to the rhythms of the metropolis. Displaying both the isolation of those down on their luck as well as moments of spontaneous warmth and community, STEIN's humanistic outlook found initial expression in the intellectually rich milieu of pre-war France.
Such inclinations would go on to serve Fred STEIN well in New York, where his talents as a documentarian found a place with the Photo League.

Having escaped an internment camp for enemy aliens in wartime France and miraculously reuniting with his family in Marseille, in 1941 Fred STEIN found passage on a steamer bound for the United States.
There he built a successful studio practice specializing in portraiture, while also continuing his independent work in the streets of the city.

Fred STEIN's characteristic humor and sympathy manifested in photos infused with an increasingly sophisticated approach to the atmospherics of lighting and tonality. As befits a professional portraitist, Stein relentlessly sought to the capture the human face of his time.
The photographs of Fred STEIN were extensively published in the illustrated magazines, newspapers, and books of his time.
This is the first solo exhibition of Fred STEIN's work at Robert Mann Gallery since the gallery began representing the estate last year." (source: https://likeyou.com/en/node/32293)