A Letter (An Album of 33 Original Photographs of Israel by Rudi Weissenstein) [UNIQUE, SIGNED]

Weissenstein, Rudi

Edité par [Photohouse Prior], Tel-Aviv, 1952

A propos de cet article

Signed Rudi Weissenstein the end of the album. Folio. 16 leaves. Original light gray, textured stiff wraps with black lettering on cover. An album of thirty-three original silver gelatin prints, organized conceptually as a photo-illustrated travelogue with manuscript text and captions throughout. This book was created by the photographer Rudi Weissenstein as a unique gift to his friends "the Friedmans", in preparation for their anticipated trip with the Wissensteins through Israel. The book acts as a proposed itinerary for their upcoming trip. Photo-album with calligraphic text. Most of the prints approx. 9 x 7" (26) or 4.5 x 7" (5) and two at 2.25 x 3," several with Photohouse Prior stamp on verso. Rudi Weissenstein (1910-1999) is considered one of Israel's most important photographers, establishing a studio in Tel-Aviv in 1940. All images throughout are identified and captioned underneath. The title page depicts a street scene featuring a religious Jew writing a letter (image captioned "a letter"), meant as a humorous representation of Weissenstein. The verso with date of first day of the journey, May 20th, 1952, and a photo of the city of Tel-Aviv, on to Jerusalem with views of the old city wall, the YMCA-Building, the Jewish Agency Building and Theodor Herzl's grave. Panoramic views of Tel-Aviv and Haifa lead us to the pass through Tivon at Emek Jesreel visiting a Maabarah, see Beth Alpha and other settlements followed by two photos depicting agricultural activities on the way to Tiberias in Gallilee, the waterfalls of Tanur, the snowcapped peak of Mt. Hermon, a photograph of Metula and the Hula Valley, the cities of Safed and Gush-Halav and back through the Sharon, Rishon-Lezion to Megev with its famous Lions-Rock, the great Wadi-Arava to Eilat on the Gulf of Akaba. Finally an aerial shot from the plane looking down on the moonlit hills of the Megev. The final page with two small family photographs with a dedication, signed by Rudi Weissenstein. Wraps lightly sunned along edges with partially chipped spine. First and third photograph loose but present. Binding somewhat loose but holding together. Some light, occasional offsetting of inked lettering to facing pages. Biding in good-, prints in very good+ to fine condition. Shimon Rudolf "Rudi" Weissenstein (1910-1992) photo-journalist and documentray photographer the everyday lives of Jewish immigrants tp Palestine starting in the 1930s. He is also noted as the photographer of David Ben-Gurion's reading of Israel's declaration of independence in 1948. His extensive photo archive of some 250,000 negatives was managed by his widow until her death in 2011, then by his grandson Ben Peter Weissenstein. A documentary film dealing with the Photohouse Prior, "Life in Stills," was made by Tamar Tal. Weissenstein's photographs were awarded numerous prizes and shown in exhibitions in Moscow (Working Hands), Frankfurt, The Hague, The Jewish Museum in Munich and a last exhibition of his works in Germany at the Kunsthaus Wiesbaden under the title "Your Happy Eyes.".

N° de réf. du vendeur 50534

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: A Letter (An Album of 33 Original Photographs of Israel by Rudi Weissenstein) [UNIQUE, SIGNED]
• Éditeur: [Photohouse Prior], Tel-Aviv
• Date de parution: 1952
• Reliure: Softcover
• Édition: Original photograph(s).
• État de l'article: Good- to fine condition
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Photography