Josef Breitenbach at Gitterman

Josef Breitenbach (1896 - 1984) was one of the survivors of the turmoil that shook Europe in the first half of the twentieth century.  As both a Communist (he took part in the 1918 coup d'etat that attempted to establish a Soviet republic in Bavaria) and a Jew, he was forced to flee German in 1933 only three years after opening his first photo studio in Munich.  To escape, he tricked the storm troopers who had come to arrest him into thinking he was under the protection of former Chancellor Franz von Papen whose portrait he had taken the year before. Safe for the time being in Paris, Breitenbach formed the friendships he is best remembered for today among Breton, Man Ray and other Surrealists as well as with Brassai and Henri Cartier-Bresson.  After only six years in Paris, Breitenbach was interned by the French before finally escaping to New York City in 1942 where he remained for the remainder of his life.

Despite the brevity of his stay in Paris, Breitenbach's photography was heavily influenced by the surrealists and their techniques are clearly evident in the photos shown at the current exhibit at the Gitterman Gallery.  For example, there are three portraits entitled Patricia (1942) lined side by side on one wall.  Although all three are the same photo, each print is different due to the application of the Sabatier Effect which is notoriously difficult to replicate from one print to the next (which is why in my own work I "solarize" the negative rather than the print).  Another print, entitled Solarized Nude (1933), is much darker and the effect more pronounced because the light was switched on earlier in the developing process.  A portrait from 1936, appropriately enough of Max Ernst and his wife, achieves a surrealist effect by superimposing on the faces of the subjects the reflections seen in the glass windowpane in front of them.

Other influences besides the surrealist are also evident.  A Woman and Conscience (1945) not only makes use of a double exposure but also employs a texture screen to create an effect reminiscent of that achieved by Pictorialists such as William Mortensen.  On the other hand, 6e Rue de la Grande Chaumiere, Paris (1938) is a masterpiece of low light photogra- phy in the style of Brassai's own night photos of Paris.

Probably the best print on exhibit is Sculpture Gallery (1935) in which natural light from an overhead skylight illuminates the draped folds of an unfinished sculpture while its creator stands to the side.  One wishes Breitenbach's famous double portrait of Breitenbach's best friend Dr Riegler and the nude J. Grenowere was also there to be seen.

The exhibit continues through November 2, 2013.