Der Fotograf vor der Kamera

The Photographer In Front Of The Camera

A 2014, 66 min, HD
Mischief Films

Photographer Erich Lessing documented contemporary history with his pictures.

His photograph of Leopold Figl standing on the balcony of the Belvedere palace presenting the signed Austrian State Treaty in May 1955 has been forever etched in Austria’s collective memory. Lessing, a member of the legendary photographic agency Magnum, is one of the most important photojournalists of the post-war era: His pictures of the Hungarian Revolution are contemporary documents that are as artistic as his portraits of European politicians, such as Konrad Adenauer and Nikita Khrushchev.

In The Photographer in Front of the Camera, Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel accompany the still very active 90-year old and take the time to focus on the details - as Lessing believes artistic photography must. Small gestures and brief glimpses give the film a special charm, such as when the great photographer, when tying his tie, laments that the Windsor knot has gone out of fashion, and the fact that he preserves his analogue photographs in a digital archive.

Good photography inspires us to continue reflecting on it, states Lessing. Similarly, The Photographer in Front of the Camera invites its audience to view the works of this extraordinary artist in a new light as well.

Trailer

Festivals

Synopsis

“I am a storyteller. My pictures must convey a message. I prefer to leave the making of pretty pictures to others.“ With his photography Erich Lessing not only told stories, but also helped document contemporary history. His photograph of Leopold Figl standing on the balcony of the Belvedere palace presenting the signed Austrian State Treaty in May 1955 has been forever etched in Austria’s collective memory. Lessing is one of the most important photojournalists of the post-war era, and his carefully composed photographs testify to the significant political transitions taking place at the time: His pictures of the Hungarian Revolution are contemporary documents that are as artistic as his portraits of European politicians, such as Charles de Gaulle, Konrad Adenauer and Nikita Khrushchev. „I waited. All of the others didn’t,“ he says, explaining the background story for one his unusual photographs of the Soviet leader – and his perhaps most important credo: Be patient and wait for the right moment.

In The Photographer in Front of the Camera, Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel accompany the still very active 90-year old over an extended period of time. We see Erich Lessing during the opening of his Vienna Gallery; we observe him as a guest in a popular television talk show; we follow him to Paris to the headquarters of the legendary photography agency Magnum; and we experience him repeatedly in a private context in discussions with his wife, who has supported him and his work for many years

In their cinematic portrait, Covi and Frimmel take the time to focus on the details - as Lessing believes artistic photography must. It is often the small gestures and brief glimpses that tell more of the story in this film than a long-winded report on an artist’s life could. „They were so beautiful, those broad, gigantic knots,“ remarked Lessing, tying his tie and lamenting that the Windsor knot has gone out of fashion. The film The Photographer in Front of the Camera also tells the story of disappearance, in this case the disappearance of analogue photography. What counts most in this age of digital photography, says Lessing, is chiefly speed. „The compositions of a Henri Cartier Bresson are a thing of the past“

However, Lessing is certainly interested in new digital technology, and the film even shows the famous photographer doing a photopuzzle on his iPad – a nice image of how Covi and Frimmel piece together individual excerpts to create their work as a comprehensive image. Nevertheless, a great deal remains unanswered in this film; good photography inspires us to continue reflecting on it, states Lessing. Similarly, The Photographer in Front of the Camera invites its audience to view the works of this extraordinary artist in a new light as well.

Why Lessing gave up political photojournalism in the 1950s, turning instead to artistic photography, becomes obvious when Covi and Frimmel observe him selecting pictures for a new volume of photographs. A good picture must speak for itself as an expression of longing and hope, explains Lessing. „Do I have a love of photography?“ he turns the question back on a young radio reporter. „I don’t know, but photography is a wonderful medium to share something of yourself with others.“

Presskit

Erich_Lessing_Presskit_de.pdf

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Image 1920 x 1080

Image 1920 x 1080

Image 1920 x 1080