- Roman Vishniac
Infobox Person
name = Roman Vishniac (Роман Вишняк)
image_size = 300px
caption = Roman Vishniac, 1977. Photo by Andrew A. Skolnick
birth_date = birth date|1897|8|19
birth_place =Pavlovsk
death_date = death date and age|1990|1|22|1897|8|19
death_place =New York City
occupation =Photographer ,Biologist
nationality =Russia n, American
spouse = Luta (Leah) Bagg (1918 – 1946); Edith Ernst (1947 – 1990)
children =Wolf V. Vishniac , Mara VishniacRoman Vishniac (pron-en|ˈvɪʃniæk, _ru. Роман Вишняк; August 19, 1897 – January 22, 1990) was a renowned
Russian-American photographer , best known for capturing on film the culture ofJew s in Central andEastern Europe before theHolocaust .Vishniac was an extremely diverse photographer, an accomplished biologist and a knowledgeable collector and teacher of art history. Throughout his life, he made significant scientific contributions to the fields of photomicroscopy and time-lapse photography. Vishniac was very interested in history, especially that of his ancestors. In turn, he was strongly tied to his Jewish roots and was a Zionist later in life.ICP Library of Photographers. "Roman Vishniac". Grossman Publishers, New York. 1974.]
Roman Vishniac won international acclaim for his photography: his pictures from the "
shtetl ach" and Jewish ghettos, celebrity portraits, and images of microscopic biology. He is known for his book "A Vanished World", published in 1983, which was one of the first such pictorial documentations of Jewish culture in Eastern Europe from that period and also for his extreme humanism, respect and awe for life, sentiments that can be seen in all aspects of his work.Biography
Early life
Roman was born in his grandparents' "
dacha " outside ofSaint Petersburg , in the town ofPavlovsk , and grew up inMoscow .Kohn, Mara Vishniac, Biographical Note (1992). "To Give them Light: The Legacy of Roman Vishniac". Simon & Schuster. New York, New York 10020. 1993. ISBN 0-671-63872-6.] To live in this city was a right granted to few Jews but Roman could live there because his father, Solomon Vishniac, was a wealthy manufacturer ofumbrella s, and his mother, Manya, was the daughter of affluentdiamond dealers (Roman also had a sister, KatjaJüdisches Museum Berlin (2005). "Roman Vishniac's Berlin". Editors: Mara Vishniac Kohn, James Howard Fraser and Aubrey Pomerance. Published by Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung.] ). During the summer months; however, the Vishniacs would leave: Moscow often became uncomfortably hot and the family would retreat to a "dacha" a few miles outside of that city.As a child, Roman Vishniac was fascinated by
biology andphotography , and his room was filled with "plants, insects, fish and small animals".Vishniac, Roman. "The Concerns of Roman Vishhniac: Man, Nature and Science".] On his seventh birthday, Roman got amicroscope from his grandmother, to which he promptly hooked up a camera, and by which he photographed the muscles in acockroach 's leg at 150 times magnification. Young Vishniac used this microscope extensively, viewing and photographing everything he could find, from deadinsect s to animal scales, topollen andprotozoa .Until the age of ten, Vishniac was homeschooled; from ten to seventeen, he attended a private school at which he earned a gold medal for
scholar ship."Roman Vishniac". Current Biography (1967).] Beginning in 1914, he spent six years at Shanyavsky Institute (now University) in Moscow. While enrolled there, he served in theTsarist ,Kerensky and Soviet armies. At the Institute, he earned a Ph.D. inzoology and became an assistant professor of biology. As a graduate student, he worked with prestigious biologistNikolai Koltzoff , experimenting with inducing metamorphosis inaxolotl , a species of aquaticsalamander . While his experiments were a success, Dr. Vishniac was not able to publish a paper detailing his findings due to the chaos in Russia and his results were eventually independently duplicated. In spite of this, he went on to take a three year course inmedicine .Berlin
In 1918, Roman Vishniac's immediate family moved to
Berlin because ofanti-Semitism spurred by theThird Russian Revolution . Roman followed them and, shortly after arriving, married Luta (Leah) Bagg, who gave birth to two children, Mara and Wolf.Kohn, Mara Vishniac. [http://www.hias.org/WhoWeAre/120stories/59vishniac.pdf A Photographer of a Vanished World and his Family] . HIAS. Accessed January 1, 2006.] Roman Vishniac supported his own budding family (and sometimes his parents as well) by working at various jobs. In his free time, he studied Far Eastern Art at theUniversity of Berlin . Vishniac researchedendocrinology ,optics , and did some photography ("see right"). In Berlin, he also initiated hispublic speaking career by joining theSalamander Club , at which he often gave lectures on naturalism.In the 1930s, as anti-Semitism was growing in
Germany , Vishniac took his famed trips toEastern Europe , photographing the culture of poor Jews in mountainous villages and urban ghettos. For approximately 4 years, (the exact period is debated), he would travel back and forth from Berlin to remote locations, taking thousands of pictures and living with whomever would take him in, at the same time supporting his family in Berlin. In 1939, Roman's wife and children moved toSweden to stay with Luta's parents, away from hostile Germany. He met up with his parents inNice that summer.Vishniac returned to
Paris in late summer 1940, and was arrested by thePétain police and interned atCamp du Ruchard , a deportation camp inClichy ,France . This occurred becauseLatvia , where he had had his citizenship, had been subsumed into theSoviet Union and Vishniac was considered a "stateless person". After 3 months, as a result of his wife's efforts and aid from theAmerican Jewish Joint Distribution Committee , he obtained a visa that allowed him to escape viaLisbon to the U.S. with his family. His father stayed behind and spent the war hidden in France; his mother died from cancer in 1941 while still in Nice.Jewish Museum Berlin (2005). [http://www.juedisches-museum-berlin.de/site/EN/06-Press/01-Press-Releases/2005_10_28.php?list=TRUE&sn=TRUE Special Exhibition: Roman Vishniac's Berlin] . Accessed February 25, 2005.]New York
The Vishniac family fled from
Lisbon toNew York City in 1940, arriving onNew Year's Eve . Vishniac tried for days to get a job but failed: "For me, it was a time of distraction and fear." Vishniac struggled. He wasmultilingual , speaking at least German, Russian andYiddish , but he could speak no English yet and thus had a difficult time.Weiner, Jonathan (circa 1981). "Field of Vision". Moment. pg 37.] He managed to do some portraiture work with mostly foreign clients; but business was poor. It was during this time, in 1942, that Roman took one of his most celebrated portraits, that ofAlbert Einstein . Vishniac arrived at Einstein's home inPrinceton, New Jersey , getting into the scientist's study with the ruse of bringing regards from mutual friends in Europe, and photographed him while the scientist was not paying attention to him, occupied in thought. Einstein later called this portrait his favourite one of him. In 1946, Roman Vishniac divorced Luta, and the next year he married Edith Ernst, an old family friend. A few years later, he gave up portraiture and went on to do freelance work in the field of photomicroscopy.Once in the United States, Roman Vishniac tried desperately to earn sympathy for impoverished Jews in
Eastern Europe . When his work was exhibited atTeachers College, Columbia University in 1943,"Studies in Misery Shown". "New York Times (1859-Current file);" 2 February 1943; ProQuest Historical Newspapers pg. 21.] Vishniac wrote toEleanor Roosevelt (First Lady at the time), asking her to visit the exhibit, but she did not do so. He also sent some of his photographs to the president for which he was politely thanked.Edited by Kohn, Mara Vishniac and Flacks, Miriam Hartman. "Roman Vishniac: Children of a Vanished World". University of California Press. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California. 1999. ISBN 0-520-22187-7] "absolutearts.com" [http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2001/02/01/28027.html Vishniac Photographs Breathe Life into Memories of Children from a Vanished World] . Accessed October 18, 2005.]Of the 16,000 taken in Eastern Europe by Roman Vishniac, only 2,000 photographs reached America.UCSB Arts & Lectures (2000). [http://www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/archive/1999-2000/pr/vishniac.htm Work of photographer Roman Vishniac remembered in special illustrated program at UCSB] . Accessed October 18, 2005.] Most of these negatives were carefully hidden by Roman and his family; others were smuggled in by Vishniac's good friend
Walter Bierer throughCuba . In the photographer's own words,Later life
Even when he grew older, Roman Vishniac was very active. In 1957, he was appointed research associate at the
Albert Einstein College of Medicine and in 1961 ascended to the rank of "professor of biological education".The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2003). [http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/V/Vishniac.html Roman Vishniac, (Photography, Biography)] . Accessed October 18, 2005.] In his seventies and eighties, Vishniac became "Chevron Professor of Creativity" atPratt Institute (where he taught courses on topics such as the philosophy of photography). During this time he lived on the West Side ofManhattan with his wife Edith, teaching, photographing, reading and collecting artifacts.Mitgang, Herbert (2 October 1983). "Testament to a Lost People".New York Times Magazine . pg 47.] Some items that were in his collection include a 14th-century Buddha, Chinese tapestries,Japanese sword s, various antiquemicroscope s, valued old maps and venerable books.Vogt, Richard. [http://zebra.biol.sc.edu/vishniac/rv.html Dr. Vishniac and the Beauty of the Real] . Accessed December 9, 2005. "According to the site, the text originally "appeared in Kodak International Review - No. 9"."] He taught Oriental andRussian art , generalphilosophy andreligion inscience , specifically Jewish topics,ecology ,numismatics , photography and general science atCity University of New York ,Case Western Reserve University and at various other institutions.During the course of his life, Vishniac was the subject and creator of many
film s and documentaries; the most celebrated of which was the Living Biology series. The series consisted of seven films oncell biology ; organs and systems;embryology ;evolution ;genetics ;ecology ;botany ; the animal world; and the microbial world. This production was funded by a grant from theNational Science Foundation .Roman Vishniac received Honorary Doctoral degrees from the
Rhode Island School of Design ,Columbia College of Art and theCalifornia College of Art , [Ciano, Bob. "The Vanished World: A limited edition portfolio". Witkin-Berley Ltd. Roslyn Heights, Ny. May 1977.] before he died fromcolon cancer on January 22, 1990. [Shepard, Richard F. " [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE3D61130F930A15752C0A966958260 Roman Vishniac, 92, a Biologist And Photographer of Jews, Dies] ". "New York Times (1859-Current file);" 23 January 1990; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1951–2002) pg. D23.]Photography
. This photograph is often associated with Vishniac's work in Central Europe.It is currently being exhibited in the "Foto" exhibition at the
National Gallery of Art ]In Central and Eastern Europe
1935–1939
Vishniac is best known for his dramatic photographs of
Jew s in cities and "shtetl ach" ofEastern Europe . He was commissioned to take these pictures initially by theAmerican Jewish Joint Distribution Committee as part of a fundraising initiative; but, Vishniac took a personal interest in this photography. He traveled back and forth fromBerlin to theghetto s ofRussia ,Poland ,Romania ,Czechoslovakia andLithuania for years after he worked for the Committee.While touring Europe, Roman Vishniac posed as a traveling fabric
sales man, seeking aid where he could and bribing anyone who got in his way.Murray, Schumach. "Vishniac's Lost World Of the Jews". "New York Times (1859-Current file);" 25 November 1983; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851–2002) pg. C1.] During his touring of Eastern Europe (1935–1939), he was often arrested by police for taking these pictures, sometimes because he was thought to be spying, (Jews were not allowed to take pictures or even carry cameras). Later, when published, these photographs made him popular enough for his work to be showcased as one-man shows atColumbia University , theJewish Museum , ICP and other such institutions.Vishniac, being a Jew, had to struggle immensely to take the 16,000 photos he did. Every one of his photos from this period was a candid shot; the subjects never even knew his camera existed. He also could not take more than one shot of a scene or buy two rolls of film at a time because he was not of Aryan descent.Roman Vishniac. "Polish Jews: A Pictorial Record". Schoken Books Inc. New York. 1976.] Vishniac sometimes developed his film in Berlin, other times he was forced to do it out on the countryside, in rivers of the
Carpathian Mountains on moonless nights .In order to reach some of the small villages in these mountains, he had to carry heavy equipment (Leica, Rolleiflex, movie camera, tripods etc.), 115 pounds (52
kilogram s) by his estimate, on his back, up steep roads, trekking many miles. With a concealed Leica wrapped in a scarf at his forehead or aRolleiflex Keppler, Herbert. "A vanished world".Modern Photography , Sept 1984 v48 p92(1). Accessed January 3, 2006, from InfoTrac Web: OneFile A3409487] peeking out through an enlarged button hole of his coat, Vishniac captured tens of thousands of impoverished Jews on film, " [...] to preserve – in pictures, at least – a world that might soon cease to exist".Mendoza, Bernard (2003). [http://www.nmajh.org/exhibitions/mendoza/statement.htm A Photo-Documentary on Orthodox Jewish Communities living in America] . Accessed September 3, 2005.] This Leica was acquired through a non-Jewish friend, but he had to give thecamera back often (the police were trying to make sure that no Jews were using the camera, and they usually checked with his friend in the evenings).For indoor shots, when the Leica was used, there was the problem of insufficient
lighting : there would rarely be artificial light in the home of a poor Jew. Vishniac could not use a tripod (for the camera had to remain concealed) to get long exposures, so he had to bring akerosene lamp (visible in some of his work), keep his back to a wall for support, and hold his breath. The Rolleiflex was used mostly for outdoor scenes.Roman Vishniac did not just want to preserve the memories of the Jews; he actively fought to increase awareness in the West of the worsening situation in Eastern Europe. "Through his photographs, he sought to alert the rest of the world to the horrors [of the Nazi persecution] ", Mitgang. In late 1938, for example, he sneaked into
Zbaszyn , aninternment camp in Germany near the border, where Jews awaited deportment toPoland . After photographing the "filthy barracks", as he described it, for two days, Levin, Eric. "A fateful photo from the Holocaust leads photographer and subject to an emotional reunion in the Bronx" People Weekly, April 23, 1984 v21 p74(2). Retrieved January 3, 2006, from InfoTrac Web InfoTrac OneFile A3233313. ] he escaped by jumping from the second floor at night and creeping away, avoiding broken glass andbarbed wire . He then used photographs taken to prove the existence of such camps to theLeague of Nations .After Roman's death, more photographs were discovered, and the current exhibit in
Berlin showcases such newly discovered photographs. The negatives of these were found at the end of rolls of film used by him in his scientific pursuits.tyle
Vishniac's photographs from the 1930s are all of a very distinct style; they are all focused on achieving the same end: capturing the unique culture of Jewish ghettos in Eastern Europe. His pictures all center on these people, usually in small groups, going about their daily lives: very often studying (generally religious texts), walking (many times through harsh weather), and sometimes just sitting; staring. The scenes are dramatic though: "There is barely a hint of a smile on any of the faces. The eyes peer at us suspiciously from behind ancient
casement window s and over a peddler's tray, from crowded schoolrooms and desolate street corners."Fenyvesi, Charles. "A vanished world". Smithsonian, Jan 1984 v14 p130(2). Accessed January 3, 2006, from InfoTrac Web: OneFile A3071101.]Gene Thornton , writer for "The New York Times ", called them " [...] somber with poverty and with the gray light of European Winter".Thornton, Gene. "The Two Roman Vishniacs". New York Times October 31, 1971. Proquest Historical Newspapers pg. D25]These pictures, all in black and white, were done with available light or sometimes a lantern, yet they are still, "amazingly crisp with surprising depth of field". Indeed, "There is a grainy realism to Vishniac's photographic style. We can almost finger the coarse textures of coats and shawls; the layers of fabric worn by the people seem more related to tree bark than to the well-pressed wool suit worn by an occasional elegant passerby."
Impact
Vishniac's photographs from this period are widely commended and on permanent display in many
museum s.Edward Steichen places Roman Vishniac's pre-Holocaust photographs, "among photography's finest documents of a time and place."' However, there has been criticism of Vishniac's work, focusing on the lack of diversity of his subjects in his work from Eastern Europe and quality of his composition. It has been argued that he should have also photographed wealthier Jews, in addition to the poor Jews in ghettos. Thornton criticized his photographs for their unprofessional qualities, citing "errors of focus and accidents of design, as when an unexplained third leg and foot protrudes from the long coat of a hurrying scholar."Vishniac's photographs have had a profound effect on Holocaust literature and have illustrated many books about the Jewish ghettos and Holocaust. In the case of "The Only Flowers of her Youth", the drama of the photograph inspired
Miriam Nerlove to write a fictional novel based on the story of the girl in the picture. [All Readers.com (2005). [http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/Info_22255.asp Review Summary of "Flowers on the Wall"] . Accessed February 25, 2006. ]For this work, Roman Vishniac has received the Memorial Award of the American Society of Magazine Photographers in 1956. He was also the winner of the
visual arts category of awards of theJewish Book Council in 1984; "The Only Flowers of her Youth" was deemed "most impressive" at the International Photographic Exhibition inLucerne in 1952; and the Grand Prize for Art in Photography,New York Coliseum .Photomicroscopy and biology
[
thumb|135px|Vishniacfirefly : an achievement in photography and biology]In addition to the candid photography for which he is best known, Vishniac worked heavily in the field of photomicroscopy, (specifically
interference microscopy andcinemicroscopy ). He specialized in photographing live subjects, rather than the usual dead ones and had a knack for arranging the moving specimens in "just the right poses", according toPhilippe Halsman , former president of theAmerican Society of Magazine Photographers . On the subject of Vishniac's skill in photomicroscopy, Halsman said he was, "a special kind of genius". He worked with all sorts of specimens, fromprotozoa , to fireflies toamino acid s. Vishniac's work in photomicroscopy is and was highly regarded in the field. For three consecutive years, beginning in 1952, he won the Best-of-the-Show Award of theBiological Photographic Association in New York.One of Roman Vishniac's most famous endeavors in the field of photomicroscopy was his revolutionary photographs from the inside of a firefly's eye, behind 4,600 tiny
ommatidia , complexly arranged. In addition, there were the images taken at the medical school ofBoston University of the circulatingblood inside ahamster 's cheek pouch. Vishniac invented new methods for light-interruption photography and color photomicroscopy. His method of colorization, (developed in the 1960s and early 1970s) usespolarized light to penetrate certain formations ofcell structure and may greatly improve the detail of an image.In the field of biology, Vishniac specialized in
marine microbiology , thephysiology ofciliate s,circulatory system s inunicellular plant s andendocrinology (from his work in Berlin) and metamorphosis. Despite his aptitude and accomplishments in the field, most of his work in biology was secondary to his photography: Vishniac studied theanatomy of an organism primarily to better photograph it. Besides experimenting with the metamorphosis ofaxolotl , he also researched the morphology ofchromosome s in 1920: both in Berlin. As a biologist and philosopher in 1950, he hypothesizedpolyphyletic origin , a theory that life arose from multiple, independent biochemical reactions, spawning multicellular life. As a philosopher, he "developed principles ofrationalistic philosophy " in the '50s.Other photography
Vishniac is notable for his photographs of
insect s mating,sea bass feasting and other living creatures in full animation. Skillfully and patiently, Vishniac would stalk insects or other such creatures for hours in thesuburb s around New York City. Before beginning the hunt, he would lie for over an hour in the grass, rubbing himself with proximate flora to make himself smell less artificial. Vishniac would then gracefully swoop close to his prey and patiently frame the scene with an SLR equipped with anextension tube . He had even trained himself to hold his breath for up to two minutes, so that he could take his time and not disturb slowly exposing images.Roman's subjects varied throughout his life. At times, he would focus on documenting everyday life, as in Berlin, and later
portraiture , doing famous portraits ofAlbert Einstein andMarc Chagall . He was also a pioneer in time-lapse photography, on which he worked from 1915 to 1918, and again later in life.Religion and philosophy
Roman Vishniac always had strong ties with his ancestry, especially the Jewish aspect of it, "From earliest childhood, my main interest was my ancestors". He was a Zionist and a strong sympathizer with Jews who had suffered because of
anti-Semitism , "Oh yes, I could be a professor of anti-Semitism", also stating then that he had one hundred and one relatives who died during the Holocaust. A famous photo of his ("pictured right") of a store in Berlin selling devices for separating Jews and non-Jews by skull shape was used by him to criticize thepseudoscience of German anti-Semites.Vishniac associated much of his work with
religion , though not specificallyJudaism . "Nature,God , or whatever you want to call the creator of theUniverse comes through the microscope clearly and strongly," he remarked in his laboratory one day.Living with the memory of hardship, Vishniac was, "an absolute optimist filled with tragedy. His
humanism is not just for Jews, but for every living thing." While he was alive, Roman probably believed in God or some similar concept, but he was non-denominational and did not adhere strictly to the principles of any religion. He even clashed with Orthodox Jews in one well-known instance: The religious Jews he met on his trek around Europe would not let themselves be photographed, quoting theBible and its prohibition of making of graven images. Vishniac's famous response was, "theTorah existed for thousands of years before the camera had been invented."Roman Vishniac was known for having great respect for all living creatures. Whenever possible, he returned a specimen to its precise home before it was captured and one time lent, "his bathtub to
tadpole s for weeks until he could return them to their pond". In accordance with this philosophy, he photographed almost exclusively living subjects."The saved faces of Roman Vishniac." (Photography) (Currents) (obituary) U.S. News & World Report, February 5, 1990 v108 n5 p11(1). Science Resource Center. Thomson Gale. [http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SciRC?ste=1&docNum=A8311167] . Accessed January 3, 2006.]Publications
:"For a complete list of publications by and about Roman Vishniac, see pages 94 and 95 of "Roman Vishniac" published by ICP and the Library of Congress archive."
Major exhibitions
References
Further reading
*Fisher, Craig. "Roman's Legions"
*Kinkead, Eugene. "The Tiny Landscape". "The New Yorker" July 2 and July 9, 1955.
*"Dr. Vishniac and the Beauty of the Real". "Kodak International Review" - No. 9
*ICP Library of Photographers. "Roman Vishniac". Grossman Publishers, New York. 1974.ee also
Organizations
*
International Center of Photography — Owner of the copyrights of Roman's works.
*American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee — Originally commissioned Vishniac's trips to Eastern Europe.Photography
*
Time-lapse — Technique pioneered by Vishniac.
*Documentary photography People
*
Wolf V. Vishniac — Son of Roman, eminent microbiologist, died in 1973 during an Antarctic expedition.
*Ethan T. Vishniac — Grandson of Roman, son of Wolf, editor of theAstrophysical Journal .
*Cornell Capa — Founder of ICP.
*Alter Kacyzne — A well-known contemporary of Roman Vishniac's; photographed similar subjects, but died in aconcentration camp in 1941.External links
* [http://www.vishniac.com/ephraim/vishniac.html Every Vishniac] — Webpage of Ephraim Vishniac, Roman's grandson, detailing the family tree of the Vishniacs'.
* [http://www.singergallery.com/gallery.cfm?artistID=249 The Barry Singer Gallery] — Catalogue of six of Roman Vishniac photographs from "A Vanished World".
* [http://www.howardgreenberg.com/ The Howard Greenberg Gallery] — Includes gallery of 31 of Roman Vishniac's photographs.
* [http://www.luminous-lint.com/_switchbox.php?action=ACT_SING_PH&p1=Roman__Vishniac&p2=ABCDEFGHIJKLN Luminous-Lint page]
* [http://www.geh.org/fm/mismis/htmlsrc18/vishniac_sld00001.html George Eastman House Still Photograph Archive]
* [http://www.sc.edu/library/digital/collections/vishniac.html University of South Carolina Newsfilm Library Collection of Roman Vishniac's Scientific Imaging: 100 images]
* [http://www.jewishhamilton.org/page.html?ArticleID=161873 Interview with Roman's grandson]Persondata
NAME= Vishniac, Roman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Russian-American photographer
DATE OF BIRTH=19 August 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH=Pavlovsk
DATE OF DEATH=22 January 1990
PLACE OF DEATH=New York City
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