[smygo] Book Details Life and Career of Anarchist Photographers
Clore Daniel C
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
Sunday, May 12, 2002
The News Mexico
Book details life and career of two exiled photographers
united as one
Pedro Luis Munguia, The News Staff - 5/12/2002
In 1941, escaping from growing repression and worsening
social conditions in Germany, two anarchist Jewish
photographers arrived in Mexico. Senya Flechine and Molie
Steiner worked under one name Semo, an acronym of their
first names.
"Semo" is also the title of Emma Cecilia Garcia Krinsky's
recently released book which chronicles the lives and
careers of the photographers.
"I'm sure that Semo, who was not fond of homages, would have
wanted this book, where all the information about his work
and life has been gathered," said Garcia. "To me, that's a
very gratifying thought."
Their style as studio photographers was devoted to exploring
and exploiting the best angles of movie stars' faces. They
also captured such Mexican artists and politicians as Jose
Clemente Orozco, Salvador Novo and Adolfo Lopez Mateos. In
their time, photographs had come to play strategic roles for
politicians, artists and actors.
Adriana Konsevik, a representative of the National Institute
of Anthropology and History (INAH) at the book launch, said
Garcia's text pays homage to the efforts of "two generous
souls escaping the Nazi regime who found refuge and worked
for 21 years in Mexico thanks to the understanding of
Mexican authorities."
"There are two main contributions of this book. One is
giving a public airing to a photographer who was almost
unknown. The other is the great opportunity it opens to many
historians and researchers of Mexico's artistic life during
the 1940s and 1950s, the singers, composers, actors,
actresses, who can now be put under the magnifying glass,"
said journalist and music critic Jaime Almeida.
Under the title "Film und Foto," Flechine's works were
exhibited in Berlin in 1929, when the artist still showed
some hesitation between experimentation and producing a
social document. The exhibit was crucial in demonstrating
fundamental concepts of modern photography at the time.
Flechine's work represents a combination between the fine
arts and mass commercialism, with his photographs shown
worldwide as the result of the popularity of the film
industry.
Semo's work continued with this trend, with the addition of
his social awareness, his militancy along anarchist lines
and his contact with European trend-makers.
The book is based on the concept of modern photography as
breaking away as independent from painting through different
methods, critiques and styles.
Flechine and Steimer's 1973 donation to SEP (the Education
Secretariat) amounts to 50,486 photographs. The bulk of this
archive is now at the national photo archives (CINAFO-INAH)
in Pachuca, Hidalgo.
"Semo" was published by the National Autonomous University
of Mexico (UNAM), INAH and UNAM's Filmoteca film archives.
--
Dan Clore
mailto:cl...@columbia-center.org
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