A
Vast Body of Work
Anyone with the opportunity to see Stein’s prolific
body of work would undoubtedly agree with his son. In addition to Einstein,
he created over 1500 insightful portraits of such powerful individuals
as Nikita Khrushchev, Eleanor Roosevelt, Hermann Hesse and Marc Chagall.
Over the years his work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, New York
Times, Look, and the New York Herald Tribune. Before his death in
1967 at age 58, he also lectured and held several one-man exhibitions.
Books featuring Stein’s work include “German Portraits”; “Mer Licht” (More
Light), a satiric book with the sayings of Goethe; “5th Avenue”; and “World
Celebrities in 90 Photographic Portraits by Fred Stein.”
A pioneer of the small, handheld 35mm camera, Stein took on the role of observer in both his portraits and his street scenes
of everyday life. He used natural light or very minimal auxiliary
lighting, and avoided elaborate setups and dramatic effects. Stein
was also a voracious reader. “When he wasn’t out photographing, he
was reading,” recalls Peter.
A Compelling History
Stein’s history shaped his creativity to a great
degree. Born in 1909 in Dresden, Germany, Fred Stein was the son of
a rabbi and a religion teacher. As a teenager, he became active in
socialist and anti-Nazi movements. He later attended Leipzig University
where he quickly obtained a law degree, but was denied access to the
German bar by the Nazi government for ”racial and political reasons.”
As the threat of Fascism became more imminent, Stein fled to Paris
in 1933 with his new wife, Liselotte, under the pretense of taking
a honeymoon.
It was in Paris that Stein embarked on a lifelong
love of photography, after purchasing his first Leica as a joint wedding
gift with his wife. They were part of a circle of refugee artists and
intellectuals, full of creative energy.
Germany declared war on France in 1939, and Stein
was put in an internment camp near Paris. He was fortunate enough to
escape nine months later, and made his way south, hiding in isolated
farmhouses. He reunited with his wife and baby daughter after placing
an ad in the personals column of a French paper using the pseudonym
“Fritz Berger.” In 1941, the three boarded a ship after obtaining visas
from the International Rescue Committee. Bound for New York City, they
carried only their camera and some negatives.
Stein continued his photography in New York while
his wife worked to support the family. Peter was born in New York.
With a keen eye, Stein set about photographing city life from Fifth
Avenue to Harlem. He became a member of a prestigious organization
known as the Photo League, but resigned when he became disenchanted
with the group’s pro-Communist philosophy.
Portraiture was Stein’s main source of income,
and he was eventually commissioned to photograph many notable people.
He loved to work when he wanted, independent of assignments. From the
beginning, he used a 35mm Leica at a time when most other portrait
photographers worked with larger-format cameras.
As his work became well-known, he enjoyed the
freedom of photographing people and scenes that interested him, selling
his work to publishers and photo editors of magazines, newspapers and
books. He shot images for a calendar book of Paris and donated it to
the French War Relief in 1943. “They purchased eight ambulances with
the proceeds,” says Peter.
The
Best Education
Stein was a great influence on his young son.
“One of his haunts was the Museum of Modern Art in New York,” recalls
Peter. “He used to take me there a lot.” Because Stein always had a
darkroom set up in his living quarters, the young Peter grew up taking
his own pictures and developing them in the family’s darkroom. In fact,
the boy won second place in the National High School Kodak photo contest
in 1958 and 1959, noting that “My father was my best education.” Today
he makes his living as a cinematographer, and has been Director of Photography
for feature films such as “Pet Sematary,” “Necessary Roughness,” “Reuben,
Reuben,” and a recent PBS film, “A Midwife’s Tale.” He has plans to
make a documentary film about his father.
“Warmth, humanity and love came through in his
pictures,” says Peter. “Even though he came through some hard times,
he found hope and beauty somehow to express in his work. He loved New
York and Paris, and he really loved people.”
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