[Leica] Leica Gallery Opening Reception Invitation - 6/23/05

[jwlee01 at gmail.com (John Lee)]

To the LUG,
Apparently, there was some problems in posting this message. So,here, again 
is the open invitation to the opening reception forthe Erich Lessing 
exhibition at the Leica Gallery.
Cheers,John____________________________________________________________________________
                                ERICH LESSING                               
Arresting Time:                       Reportage Photography 1948-1973        
                    24 June - 6 August 2005                    Reception: 
Thursday, 23 June, 6 - 8 pm
                       Book-signing with Erich Lessing                       
 Saturday, June 25th, 2 - 4 pm
               Leica Gallery / 670 Broadway / New York City 10012            
212.777.3051 / Fax 212.777.6960 / leicaphoto at aol.com                      
         Tues. -  Sat. 12 - 
6______________________________________________________________________________
"In terms of Erich Lessing's range and use of subject matter he is akin 
toErich Solomon (1886-1944) the instigator of the term 'candid camera'. 
ErichLessing's world is a search for meaning amongst the chaos that is life, 
thefinding of the known amongst the unknown?examination of life; from birth 
todeath, of the idiosyncrasy of the human condition in its 
multifariousmanifestations and, not least, its need for politics, religion 
and ritual? Heidentifies with the ordinary,with the fruit of one's hand, 
with the communityof honest toil,identifies with the doer.He identifies with 
those who have thesame work ethic as himself. He is never in awe of grandeur 
the joy,exuberance, in the joke, in the irony of life. He likes people for 
whothey are not what they are, rich or poor, known or unknown, all have 
hiscuriosity for he never ceases to look. In Lessing's world people play,and 
play hard; they laugh and sing and dance and make love. They havelots of 
children who parade their smiling innocence. He is not in anyhurry to tell 
them the truth of life; may they never know it... But thetrue influence of 
photography is in its contribution to the consciousnessof the people, a 
contribution made over a long period of time." - AlistairCrawford, "People 
Known and Unknown: The Photography of Erich Lessing,"Arresting Time: 
Reportage Photography 1948-1973 (The Quantuck Lane Press,New York, 2005)
Erich Lessing was born in Vienna in 1923 into a middle-class Jewish 
family.His father, a dentist, died in 1933 and, with the rise of National 
Socialism,Lessing fled in December 1939, to Palestine which was under 
British control.Subsequently, his mother, a concert pianist, died in the gas 
chambers ofAuschwitz and his grandmother in Theresienstadt.
Erich Lessing studied at the Haifa Technical College; raised carp andtrout 
in a kibbutz; and worked as a taxi-driver, radio mechanic andcamera 
salesman.He then returned to his childhood hobby, photography,taking photos 
of kindergarten children and beach scenes. Finally, hebecame a civilian 
photographer with the Sixth Airborne Division of theBritish Army.
After the war, in 1947, he returned to Austria and worked as a 
photographerat Associated Press -  he secured his first positionthere from 
the journalist,Traudl Wiglitzky, whom he later married. Based upon his work 
and hisinternational reputation as a photojournalist, he was recruited by 
DavidSeymour(Chim), one of the founders of Magnum Photos, into that 
alreadyprestigious association, and, in 1951, with the approval of 
anotherfounder, Robert Capa, Lessing became its tenth member. His work 
regularlyappeared in LIFE, Paris Match, National Geographic, The New York 
Times,Quick and Heute. After his world-famous coverage of the 
HungarianRevolution of 1956 ?he stayed there from the beginning until the 
terribleend - Lessing began to turn to photographic "evocations" of famous 
historicalpersonalities and away from photojournalism. It is the path that 
hehas continued to this day, resulting in over 45 books on 
geography,history, art and religion.
Lessing has taught photographic workshops throughout the world and wasa 
Professor at the Academy of Applied Art in Vienna. For his seminalwork on 
the Hungarian Revolution, he was awarded the American ArtEditors' Award;in 
1998, he received the Imre Nagy Medal bestowed bythe President of Hungary. 
Lessing has also received the French PrixNadar, the Austrian Dr. Karl Renner 
Award; the Silver and Gold Medalsfor Outstanding Services to the City of 
Vienna; the Gold Medal of theProvince of Styria; and the Austrian Great 
State Award forPhotography.
Erich Lessing's 1996 exhibition at Leica Gallery, "The First FiftyYears,"was 
based upon the much larger worldwide traveling exhibition,"Fifty Years of 
Photography." This current exhibition is incelebration of a new seminal 
retrospective book on Lessing'sphotojournalistic work. Signed copies of the 
English edition,Arresting Time: Reportage Photography 1948-1973, which has 
just beenpublished by The Quantuck Lane Press (New York, 2005), will be 
availablethroughout the exhibition.
Rose and Jay DeutschOn-site Directors