Eine Leseprobe finden Sie unter http: verlag.sandstein.de reader 98-365_FredSteinFred Stein
gehört zu den Pionieren der Kleinbildfotografie der 1930er und 1940er Jahre. Das fotografische
uvre des Quereinsteigers ist ein bewegendes und bewegtes Zeugnis der Geschichte des 20.
Jahrhunderts er schuf beeindruckende Ansichten von Städten und Menschen. Im Jahr 1909 als Sohn
eines Rabbiners in Dresden geboren war der überzeugte Sozialist nach dem Machtantritt der
Nationalsozialisten 1933 gezwungen seine Heimatstadt zu verlassen. In der Not der Flucht und
Emigration offenbarte sich sein herausragendes Talent als sensibler Porträt- und
Straßenfotograf. Die Liste der Porträtierten liest sich wie das »Who is Who« des 20.
Jahrhunderts: Hannah Arendt Albert Einstein Willy Brandt Arnold Zweig Egon Erwin Kisch
Bertolt Brecht Marlene Dietrich Salvador Dalí Martin Buber Thomas Mann. Seine Fotografien
zeichnen sich durch tiefe Menschlichkeit und einen hintergründigen Humor aus. Als humanistisch
gesinnter Intellektueller bewahrte er sich immer den Blick für das Ganze - er fotografierte
mehr als nur den perfekten Augenblick. Der Katalog zeigt eine Auswahl der bedeutendsten
Fotografien Fred Steins. Eine ausführliche Bildbiografie erzählt das Leben des Künstlers und
Essays namhafter Kunst- und Kulturhistoriker ordnen sein Werk in den kunsthistorischen und
ideengeschichtlichen Kontext ein.The people he photographed are famous and famous are his
portraits and cityscapes. The name of the photographer however is little known so far.Fred
Stein is one of the pioneers of the small-format photography of the 1930s and 1940s. The oeuvre
of the man who only became a photographer by happenstance is a moving and dynamic testimony of
20th-century history. Stein created impressive pictures of cities and people. Born in Dresden
in 1909as the son of a rabbi he became a stalwart socialist and was forced to leave his home
town when the National Socialists came to power. Together with his wife Lilo he fled to Paris
on the pretext of a honeymoon in 1933. An aspiring lawyer Stein then needed to follow a new
career path-for which the wedding gift of a Leica 35mm camera turned out to be the key. The
hardships of flight and emigration revealed his outstanding talent as a sensitive portrait and
street photographer. First in Paris and then after 1941 in his New York exile Fred Stein on
his forays through the city became an ethnologist of the urban space his eye always out for
special moments and the poetry of the metropolises. A silent observer his pictures would
capture typical scenes and places as well as the special quality of life in the city. In a
similar way his portraits testify to the unobtrusive proximity in his relationship with
people. The list of those portrayed reads like a Who's Who of 20th-century history: Hannah
Arendt Albert Einstein Willy Brandt Arnold Zweig Egon Erwin Kisch Bertold Brecht Marlene
Dietrich Salvador Dalí Martin Buber Thomas Mann. His photographs are characterized by a
profound humanity and a subtle sense of humor. As a humanist intellectual he photographed more
than just the perfect moment and never lost sight of the overall picture. In his picture
stories Stein proves a masterful photographer of modernity with a view full of empathy for his
environment and his fellow human beings. The catalog shows a high-quality selection of Fred
Stein's most important photographs and at the same time provides an illustrated biography of
the artist's life. It was made in close cooperation with Fred's son Peter Stein who administers
his father's oeuvre.
