ROMAN VISHNIAC REDISCOVERED

Emphasizing Roman Vishniac's prodigious talents as one of the great documentary photographers of the 20th century, this volume presents the full range of his artistic genius. Drawn from the International Center of Photography'svast holdings of work by Roman Vishniac (1897-1990), thisgenerously illustrated and expansive volume offers a new andprofound consideration of this key modernist photographer. Inaddition to featuring Vishniac's best-known work--the iconicimages of Jewish life in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust--this publication also introduces many previously unpublishedphotographs spanning more than six decades of Vishniac'swork. These include newly discovered images of prewar Berlin, rare film footage from rural Jewish communities in CarpatheinaRuthania, documentation of postwar ruins and DisplacedPersons' camps, and vivid coverage of Jewish life in Americain the 1940s and '50s. Essays by world-renowned scholars ofphotography, Jewish history and culture address these newfoundimages and consider them in the context of modernisttendencies in Berlin in the 1920s and '30s, the rise of Nazi powerin Germany and Eastern Europe, the uses of social documentaryphotography for relief organizations, the experiences of exile, displacement, and assimilation, and the impact of Vishniac'spioneering scientific research in color photomicroscopy in the1950s and '60s. This first retrospective monograph on RomanVishniac offers many new perspectives on the work and careerof this important photographer, positioning him as one of thegreat modernists and social documentary photographers of thelast century.