Farewell to photographer Erich Lessing. He had documented the history of the 20th century

The great Austrian photographer Erich Lessing passed away last August 29. Born in Vienna in 1923, Lessing was one of Magnum Photos’ leading photographers: with his camera he documented many of the most important moments in the history of the 20th century, beginning with the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Of Jewish descent, forced to leave Austria in 1939 following the Anschluss, he took refuge with his family in Israel (only his mother remained in Austria, and she later disappeared in Auschwitz). Returning to Austria in 1947, Lessing began his career with the Associated Press.

Lessing’s photographs are among the most valuable accounts of Europe after World War II: the Allied occupation, the reconstruction of destroyed Germany, life in Eastern Europe. Beginning in the 1960s, Lessing changed the objects of his interest and became one of the most highly regarded portraitists of the time, immortalizing poets, musicians and scientists: with his photos, Lessing filled hundreds of pages. He taught at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and in 2013 he donated some 60,000 photographs to the Austrian National Library. Throughout his career he has worked for magazines such as LIFE, Time, Paris Match, Epoch, Picture Post, and Quick.

“I never thought of doing anything else but telling stories,” Lessing declared. “The camera has become the medium by which I do that, but I don’t carry a camera with me wherever I go. For me, it is simply the means to a very specific goal. I observe the world through my own eyes and not through the lens of a camera. I do not interpret or edit anything in the darkroom. I am a verist photographer.”

Farewell to photographer Erich Lessing. He had documented the history of the 20th century

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