© jmse
By José Manuel Serrano Esparza
Last August 29th, 2018, at the age of 95, passed away Erich Lessing, one of the greatest Magnum photographers ever and a seminal photojournalist who documented a number of the most significant events in the second half of XX Century, throughout a brilliant career in which he worked for Associated Press from 1947 and Magnum Agency from 1951 (having being invited to join it by David Seymour " Chim ", one of its founders, and becoming a full member in 1955) and his images appeared in such prestigious magazines like Life, Picture Post, Time, Paris Match, Fortune and others.
© jmse
Erich Lessing was always an amazing photographer excelling in the capture of defining moments, fleeting instants that he made everlasting, often turning them into iconic images.
Its innate sense of anticipation and composition, quickness of movements, and remarkable ability to see the picture, always striving upon being at the adequate place and moment and as near as possible from the core of action going unnoticed, made him choose firstly
© Westlicht
a Leica IIIf with Leitz Elmar 50 mm f/3.5 and Elmar 90 mm f/4 lenses and a Leica M3 rangefinder camera as his favorite photographic tool from mid fifties, coupled to a standard 7 elements in 6 groups and ten blades Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Version 1 collapsible lens.
Only a month before the coverage of the Hungarian Revolution against the Soviet Occupation, the Photokina 1956 took place in Cologne (Germany) between September 29 and October 7 of that year. The Leica M3 was once again, as had happened in 1954 and 1955, the highlight of the event. It was by far the best 35 mm camera in the world at the moment and 82,042 units were sold between 1954 (year of its introduction) and 1956. Here we can see an original metallic pin from the Photokina 1956, courtesy of Dr. Mervin Stewart from Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), a sadly demised veteran member of the LHSA, who visited it sixty-two years ago.
© jmse
The Leica M3 rangefinder camera meant to practical effects among many other things a major boosting of photojournalism, thanks to its combination of viewfinder and rangefinder in one bright window, a 92x magnification VF and an effective rangefinder base of 63.71 mm enabling to highly accurately focus lenses up to 135 mm, and particularly its symbiosis with standard 50 mm lenses is still to be surpassed, something that was perfectly known by Erich Lessing, whose main lens coupled to his Leica M3 was in 1956 a collapsible Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 First Version.
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Top front area of a Leica M3 where we can see the window of its 0.92x viewfinder (on far right, providing the main image for the VF and being combined with the bright-line frames, the rangefinder metering field and the LED indicators), the brightline illumination window (in the middle, gathering ambient light to produce in the VF the brightline frames for lenses of different focal lengths) and the rangefinder window (on far left, providing the image for the very bright rangefinder metering field). © jmse
Eyepiece of the 0.92x viewfinder of the 24 x 36 mm full format Leica M3 rangefinder camera. Its brightness, sharpness and contrast of this superb VF have remained unbeaten since 1954.
© jmse
Revolution in Hungary, The 1956 Budapest Uprising, a masterful photobook published by Thames & Hudson and including a comprehensive assortment of the best pictures made by Erich Lessing in the Hungarian capital in late October and first week of November of 1956 during the days in which civil population fought in the streets against the invading Soviet troops and tanks, with a final death toll of 30,000 Hungarians and 7,000 Soviet soldiers.
© jmse
His landmark reportage on Budapest Uprising against the Soviet Occupation during October-November 1956 brought him international celebrity and some of its photographs made covers in a number of the most prominent newspapers and illustrated magazines all over the world.
Two years later, in 1958, he would cover the War in Algeria, getting an iconic picture of
Erich Lessing made this famous photograph with his Leica M3 coupled to a screwmount four elements in three groups Leitz Elmar 90 mm f/4 with adapter to M bayonet. The great experience of the Magnum photographer with primes made him deeply know when to use each lens depending on the distance to the subject, always doing his best to go unnoticed. He got this image from a balcony shooting downwards, probably at f/8 (there´s sharpness from his cap and right hand to his right shoe) and taking advantage of the 0.92x magnification of the Leica M3 viewfinder enabling an exceedingly accurate focus, though focus is not 100% perfect, a hallmark of this kind of classical black and white Leica photojournalistic images in which the technical perfection of the picture is not the most important thing, but the defining instant depicted.
© jmse
General Charles de Gaulle during his four days visit to the cities of Algiers and Constantina, photographing the dignitary in the latter while saluting his honor guard, from a very high point and an almost utterly vertical perspective, wisely enhanced by the shadows of the French soldiers.
Subsequently, Erich Lessing (whose unswerving love for photography and black and white films harked back to his teenage years in mid thirties living in an apartment of Ludo-Hartmann-Hof in Albertgasse of Vienna, when he was presented with his first photographic camera in 1936) focused more on social, political, historical and cultural subjects, keeping on making black and white photography but adding gorgeous large format color photography to his repertoire, getting pictures of works of art in museums, historical sites and archaeological locations.
In addition, Lessing was an outstanding teacher of photography who imparted a lot of courses and lectures in Arles, the Salzburg Summer Academy, the Venice Biennale, the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and others, as well as having been bestowed a slew of international awards like the Art Directors´ Club Award for his work during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, the Prix Nadar for his book The Voyages of Ulysses in 1966, the Austrian Cross of Honor First Class for Science and Art.
Moreover, he was a member of UNESCO´s International Commission of Museums (ICOM).
© jmse
Erich Lessing was beyond doubt one of the foremost photographers in the world during the second golden era of photojournalism (fifties, sixties and seventies) in which professional photojournalists like him, Erich Hartmann, Elliott Erwitt, Eve Arnold, Inge Morath, Ernst Haas, Burt Glinn, Dennis Stock, Gary Winogrand, Robert Frank, Eugene Smith, Abbas, Ian Berry, Bruno Barbey, Rene Burri, Bruce Davidson, Thomas Hoepker, Hiroji Kubota, Josef Koudelka, Constantin Manos and others boosted photography to new heights after the first and pioneering golden era of photojournalism ( between mid twenties and late forties) embodied by Erich Salomon, Walter Bosshard, Harald Lechenperg, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Ilse Bing, Otto Umbehr, David Seymour " Chim ", Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, Henri Carier-Bresson, Tim Gidal, Paul Wolff, Georg Rodgers, Agustí Centelles, Kurt Hutton, Izis Bildermanas and others.
Times of Glory. Annual Magnum Meeting in Paris in 1957. From left to right : Elliott Erwitt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Erich Hartmann, Rosellina Bischof-Burri, Inge Morath, Kryn Takonis, Ernst Haas, Brian Brake, Michel Chevalier, Inge Bondi, John G. Morris, Barbara Miller, Cornell Capa, René Burri and Erich Lessing.
© Magnum Agency
AN OUTSTANDING LEGACY OF TOP-NOTCH IMAGES
Throughout his long photographic career of more than half a century, Erich Lessing created a rack of great pictures, some of them truly iconic like:
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower tipping his hat greeting people as a beam of light incides on his face while walking across Geneva Airport in 1955 with Swiss President Max Petitpierre. An iconic picture made by Erich Lessing with his Leica M3 coupled to an Elmar 90 mm f/4 through adapter to M bayonet. This is the shot of a master, in which the photographer proves his skill and reaction quickness, focusing on the American President´s face just at the decisive moment making a difference.
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
- Professor Lorenz Boehler, surgeon who introduced the technique of nailing broken bones. Vienna (1954). Erich Lessing was always fascinated by the breakthrough Austrian technology in a host of fields. In spite of the dim light, the photographer manages to shoot with his Leica IIIf rangefinder camera and Leitz Elmar 50 mm f/3.5 probably at f/8 and at very slow shutter speed to get the picture in which he has gone unnoticed, to such an extent that neither the doctors (of whom Professor Lorenz Boehler is the closest to the patient lyning on the bed) and the two patients inside the room have realized that the picture has been made, in a clear example of symbiosis between a great photographer and a 24 x 36 mm mirrorless rangefinder camera lacking any swiveling mirror and making possible to shoot handheld at exceedingly slow speeds up to roughly 1/8 s without trepidation, with the added benefit of the whispering sound of the Leica IIIf shutter being decisive to keep discretion.
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
- Registration in a Turkish refugee camp. Edirne (Turkey). 1951. A great picture in which Erich Lessing makes a masterful use of natural light entering from the left of the image, through a partially seen window, to photograph a group of Turkish refugees waiting to fill registration forms. The photographer has shot his screwmount Leica IIIf rangefinder with Leitz Elmar 50 mm f/3.5 at full f/3.5 aperture, focusing on the face of the man with his crossed hands on the table, who is attentively watching how the official puts the stamp on the form with his name. At the same time, a second refugee sitting beside him has been depicted engrossed in his thoughts, while a further official is showing the forms to one of the other six refugees making a queue for their turn, giving instructions to him. And the luminic context is enhanced by another window in the background, through which enters more light inciding on the right face side of one of the remaining refugees, who appear out of focus (in the same was as the official sitting on far lower zone of the image) thanks to the selection of f/3.5 widest aperture by the photographer.
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
- Newspaper vendor keeping her feet warm in straw shoes. 1953. As always, Erich Lessing pays attention even to the smallest details, and shoots his Leica IIIf with Elmar 50 mm f/3.5 probably at f/8 to get good depth of field from the woman occupying the lower left middle area of the image to the cars and people in the far background. The photographer conveys a feeling of very cold temperature enhanced by the very big straw shoes, dark coat and gloves of the newspaper seller, the ground covered by water and mud and the remnants of snow which can be glimpsed in the distance. But at the same time, the woman has been captured while reading a page of a folded newspaper, momentarily alien to everything happening around her.
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
- Clemens Krauss conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Musikvereins-Concert Hall in Vienna. 1954. Lessing uses a vertical composition, probably shooting at f/11 and a very slow shutter speed to show the grandiose hall in all of its splendour, getting sharpness from the two musicians nearest to the camera to the farthest stands on top left of the image, highlighting the abundant audience, the statues and the exceedingly beautifil chandeliers. Needless to say that the whispering shutter of the Leica IIIf (a mechanic wonder fruit of many decades of steady improvements by Oskar barnack, Ludwig Leitz and Willi Stein) with Elmar 50 mm f/3.5 used by the photographer to get the picture was important to preserve discretion to the utmost during the photographic act.
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
- A Writers´ Union Meeting on June 27, 1956 regarding press and information policy, which sparked the revolution. On the left of the image is Emil Horn, later a historian of the Revolution. Budapest (Hungary). 1956. Four months before his coverage of Budapest Uprising against the Soviet invading troops, Erich Lessing visited Hungary and got many pictures of the meetings of Hungarian writers, philosophers and intellectuals. In this great picture, Erich Lessing masterfully captures with his Leica M3 and collapsible Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Version 1 the very special atmosphere of those moments and the collective concern about a possible invasion of the country by USSR troops. In this regard, the lost sight of Emil Horn (on the left of the image), the man with his fist on his head on far right lower area on the picture and the eyes of the man behind him are very meaningful, in the same way as the countenance of the young woman whose head can be seen behind Emil Horn´s left shoulder.
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
- Demonstration of angry Hungarian civilians in a street of Budapest against the Soviet Invasion. October of 1956. The picture of a master epitomizing the greatest goal to attain by any photojournalist : to become invisible while getting the picture. This is an utterly front shot from a very near distance of around three meters to the crowd. And incredibly, not even one of the persons shouting visible in the image are looking at the camera. Erich Lessing, with a perfect timing, has managed to capture them unaware of his presence, going unnoticed while getting the picture with his Leica M3 coupled to a collapsible Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 First Version, probably shooting at f/11 to get maximum feasible depth of field. In addition, a split second before shooting, with his formidable sense of anticipation, Lessing has realized that the woman on the right wearing a large handkerchief on her neck is making the victory sign with her right hand through the space between the left arm and body of the woman in the middle of the image wearing a black coat with belt.
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
- A Russian soldier lying on the ground of a Budapest street after having been killed during the fighting between Soviet troops and Hungarian armed civilians. October of 1956. Erich Lessing, a realistic photographer par excellence, chooses a vertical framing and uses a great depth of field, shooting probably at f/11 to get maximum sharpness on the whole surface of the image, in whose background can be seen two destroyed Soviet tanks. During late October and first week of November of 1956, Budapest streets became a battleground in which hundreds of thousands of Hungarian civilians fought bravely against the Soviet armored divisions, until been finally crushed.
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
- A big crowd outside the former central office of Szabad Nép (communist newspaper) captured by the Hungarian uprising, trying to get the first number of the new Magyar Függetlenség (Hungarian Independence). Budapest (Hungary). October of 1956. This is another well-known iconic picture created by Erich Lessing, who once more uses a big depth of field probably shooting at f/16 and a slow shutter speed which have rendered the falling newspapers blurry, masterfully conveying a motion feeling in synergy with the raising hands struggling to take the papers, something fostered by the strenuous effort visible in the face of the man wearing a hat in the middle lower area of the image, who is stretching his right arm upwards.
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
A Hungarian patriot, who suffered from the amputation of his left leg during the intense fighting in the streets of Budapest against the Soviet troops, is photographed by Erich Lessing while taking a rifle and a submachine gun, ready for combat again. The great depth of field chosen by Lessing, who has probably shot at f/8 makes possible to spot in the background building the impacts of shells fired by Soviet tanks.
© Erich Lessing Magnum Agency
A Russian soldier killed in a street of Budapest is pointed to her daughter by a Hungarian mother. Once more, Lessing uses a big depth of field to get sharpness from the nearest foreground to the far background, encompassing the long queue of civilians watching, the havoc wreaked by artillery fire of the Soviet vehicles visible on the left of the image, and the buildings in the distance.
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
- Canadian pianist Glenn Gould and Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan during the recording of Beethoven´s Paino Concerto Number 3 in C minor Op.37 with Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra inside the Hoschschule für Musik in Berlin on May 25, 1957. Lessing masterfully captures a moment in which the great Austrian conductor is enthralled with his right hand fingers near his chin while looking at the genius pianist. The photographer was a great lover of classical music, particularly the piano one, because his beloved mother Margit Lessing was a great piano player in Vienna. The composition is perfect, with the photographer going unnoticed while captures a highly meaningful moment of interaction between both musicians, enhanced by their reflection on top middle and right areas of the image. Lessing has photographed a magical moment with his Leica M3 and collapsible Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 First Version, having also drawn the unique personality of the great Canadian pianist, who appears on the brink of exhaustion and showing lack of sleep after rehearsing an average of roughly 10 hours per day.
© Erich Lessing / Magnum Agency
Another master shot made by Erich Lessing, who manages to photograph the aftermath of the Hungarian Uprising after being crushed by a massive attack of Soviet tanks : a very young Hungarian boy plods across a Budapest street while holding with great effort a huge wooden beam with his hands. It is an impressive image in spite of being utterly in front of the boy and at a very near distance, has managed to go unnoticed and captured him completely unaware of his presence.
Once and again, Lessing proves his unutterable gift to get exceedingly meaningful pictures with tons of depth of field, like this one in which he has used his Leica M3 coupled to a collapsible Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 First Version, probably shooting at f/8 and a slow shutter speed, to such an extent that almost the whole image area appears sharp and even the building in far background can be glimpsed, while the right foot of the boy appears tremulous, conveying motion feeling.
The exceedingly short Leica M3 shutter lag of 12 ms (far better in this regard than the best current professional digital cameras has also been helpful to get this iconic picture, in which as always, the experience and eye of the photographer have been the key factors.
The boy´s countenance, clearly reveals that he is freezing cold because of the very low temperature of around -10º C (26 F) and suffering very much to be able to transport the heavy beam. In addition, the mist on top right area of the picture fosters even more the desolation pervading the instant. As a matter of fact, there was hunger in Budapest after the defeat, shortage of bread and long queues of thousands of people waiting for pretzel during more than a year.
© jmse
Erich Lessing holding the gorgeous book " Magnum First " (including photographs made by Werner Bischof, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Inge Morath, Ernst Haas, Jean Marquis, Marc Riboud and Erich Lessing who were shown during a pioneering exhibition of the reference-class photographic agency in some cities of Switzerland in 1956) published by Hatje Cantz, opened in its page 88 and showing the picture he made of two children playing in Bevedere Gardens of Vienna in 1954.
The remembrance of Erich Lessing, a great photojournalist who always deemed his way of creating images as a handcrafted trade with a realistic approach, will be everlasting for all lovers of photography.
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