In the past many famous
photographers were enabled to excel in their craft with the help of Leica
cameras. The small size and speed of
operation of the camera allowed photographers to work in a much different
manner than what was possible with the slow, large cameras before. The Leica literally allowed photographers to
create an entirely different type of photography, modern photojournalism.
Erich Salomon is credited of
being the father of modern photojournalism.
His candid photographs of important events in the early 1900s are
masterworks that even today are important examples of excellent photographic
work.
Mussolini, left, talking with
a delegation of German diplomats in 1931.
Erich Salomon was born on
April 28, 1886 in Berlin. His father was
a banker; his mother came from a line of prominent publishers. He first studied
zoology and then switched to engineering before finally settling on law. He got his degree in 1913.
At the outbreak of World War
I Salomon was drafted into the army. He
was captured during the first Battle of the Marne. He spent the next four years
in prisoner-of-war camps, where he served as an interpreter. He became fluent
in French which later proved to be invaluable in gaining entry to conferences.
After the war Salomon began
to work for Ullstein publishing house in 1925.
At Ullstein, Salomon immediately was fascinated by photography, and soon
began shooting feature pictures for the Ullstein dailies. He began to
experiment with the technique of shooting indoors by existing light and, after
mastering it, had no trouble convincing Ullstein to let him cover the
headline-making trial of a police killer for Berliner Illustrierte.
Ermanox camera with Ernostar
100mm f/2 lens
Erich Salomon with his
Ermanox camera
Erich Salomon, Self-Portrait
on Board of the Mauretania, 1929
Erich Salomon, right, using a
Leica camera, and E.O. Hoppé photographing each other, 1936
The camera Salomon used was
the Ermanox, a 2 1/4 x 1 7/8 glass plate camera with a 100mm lens of the then
sensational speed of f/2. Later on, when
the Leica too offered lenses of that speed, Salomon switched to using the
smaller and easier to operate Leica cameras.
Photography in courtrooms was
forbidden. Any pictures taken would have
been a major scoop for the paper, but the ones that Salomon returned were
extraordinary. Salomon had accomplished this by hiding his camera in a bowler
hat, cutting a hole for the lens. On the last day, when a court attendant
finally realized what he was doing and demanded his negatives, Salomon resorted
to a trick he used time and time again. He handed over unexposed plates, and
left with the exposed ones still in his pockets. Salomon was known to have
rather droopy coat pockets. He was using
glass plates in his camera at the time, unexposed plates in one and the exposed
ones in the other. In 1928, only one
year after he had become interested in photography, Salomon´s career was
launched.
Krantz trial. Hilde Scheller
in the witness box, Berlin, 1928.
At another murder trial
Salomon concealed his Ermanox in an attaché case which contained a set of
levers to trigger the shutter. When these pictures were widely published
throughout Europe, he left his staff position at Ullstein to become a full-time
professional. That same year, he covered his first series of international
conferences: the summit meeting in Lugano, a session of the League of Nations
in Geneva, and the signing of the Kellogg-Briand disarmament pack in Paris,
where he calmly walked in and took the seat of the absent Polish delegate. In
his free time, he frequented diplomatic and social events in Berlin.
Five Gentlemen Conversing
around a Table, c. 1928
Albert Einstein with British
Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, Nobel Prize-winner Max Planck, far left, and
other German political and business leaders. August 1931
Because of his persistence,
unobtrusive manner, and dramatic results, Salomon found little objection to his
presence at events where all other photographers were excluded. Indeed, many
statesmen began to develop a good-humored acceptance of his presence. At the
opening of an international gathering, the French Foreign Minister, Aristide
Briand is known to have been looking around saying, "Where is Dr. Salomon?
We can´t start without him. The people won´t think this conference is important
at all!"
Aristide Briand pointing to
Salomon, shouting: "Ah ! le voilà ! The king of the indiscreet !"
(1930)
German Foreign Minister
Gustav Stresemann en route to Paris for signature of the Briand-Kellogg Pact,
1928.
By 1931, Salomon was at the
top of his career. But Salomon´s
celebrity in his homeland was short-lived. Only a year later, after returning
from his second trip to America, he found Hitler gaining power in Germany. The Weimar Republic was soon to come to its
end. Salomon began making preparations
to leave.
Salomon decided to settle in
Holland, his wife´s native country. They moved to The Hague where he still
covered many important events. He also continued to travel. Britain especially
fascinated him, and he made frequent visits to photograph government and
opposition leaders and members of the royal family. In the late thirties he was invited to come
to America by Life magazine. They had
published many of his photographs. He considered emigrating, but kept
procrastinating. Soon it was too late to leave. In May 1940, the Nazis took
Holland in just four days. The famous photographer from Berlin was now forced
to wear a yellow star. In 1943, Salomon and his family went into hiding. They
were betrayed by a meter reader who noted an increase in gas consumption.
According to Red Cross records, Erich Salomon, his wife and their younger son
died at Auschwitz in July 1944, a month after the Allies landed in Normandy.
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