Portrait of a Man, photograph by Helmar Lerski (1871-1956).
29X23 cm. Good condition. Stains and traces of mounting to verso. Captioned on verso: "Helmar Lerski XII" (in pencil); "Copyright paid" (in pen).

Helmar Lerski (1871-1956), cinematographer, photographer and theater actor; one of the most important photographers of pre-state Israel. Lerski grew up in Zurich. His parents were Jewish immigrants of Polish origin. In 1893 he immigrated to the United States, where he joined a theater group with which he toured the cities of the Unites States and Europe – Chicago, New York, Berlin, Zurich and elsewhere – for some twenty years.
In 1910, after leaving the theater, Lerski opened a photography studio in Milwaukee. He started developing a new technique of photography with mirrors; his unique, dramatic play of light and shadow, became the hallmark of his work. In 1915 he returned to Europe, settling in Berlin, where he became involved in filmmaking (he was the cameraman on various films, including Fritz Lang's Metropolis, released in 1927). In the early 1930s, he immigrated to Palestine. His apartment in Tel-Aviv soon became a regular meeting place for the city's photographers, and in 1940 he was elected honorary president of the Palestine Professional Photographers Association (PPPA). In Palestine Lerski created several important series of expressionist photographs, using his unique technique: portraits of Jewish soldiers and of pioneers at work, studies of workers' hands, and more. He also directed the films "Avodah" ("Work", 1935), "Mangina Ivrit" ("Hebrew Melody", 1935), "Yaldei HaShemesh" ("Children of the Sun", 1939) and "Adamah" ("The Land", 1947).

Portraits of a young man wearing the uniform of the British Army (Amram Ben Zvi?), two photographs by Helmar Lerski. [Tel-Aviv, 1940s].
Photographer's stamp on verso (the address of the studio is erased with pencil; the new address on Dizengoff St. is handwritten on one of the photographs).
Possibly, the young man appearing in the photographs is Amram Ben Zvi, son of Yitzchak Ben Zvi, the second president of the State of Israel, who served in the General Transport Company 462 (one of the photographs shows a cap pin of the Royal Army Service Corps, the Transport Company of the British Army).
Two photographs, 12X15 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes.

Helmar Lerski (1871-1956), cinematographer, photographer and theater actor; one of the most important photographers of pre-state Israel. Lerski grew up in Zurich. His parents were Jewish immigrants of Polish origin. In 1893 he immigrated to the United States, where he joined a theater group with which he toured the cities of the Unites States and Europe – Chicago, New York, Berlin, Zurich and elsewhere – for some twenty years.
In 1910, after leaving the theater, Lerski opened a photography studio in Milwaukee. He started developing a new technique of photography with mirrors; his unique, dramatic play of light and shadow, became the hallmark of his work. In 1915 he returned to Europe, settling in Berlin, where he became involved in filmmaking (he was the cameraman on various films, including Fritz Lang's Metropolis, released in 1927). In the early 1930s, he immigrated to Palestine. His apartment in Tel-Aviv soon became a regular meeting place for the city's photographers, and in 1940 he was elected honorary president of the Palestine Professional Photographers Association (PPPA). In Palestine Lerski created several important series of expressionist photographs, using his unique technique: portraits of Jewish soldiers and of pioneers at work, studies of workers' hands, and more. He also directed the films "Avodah" ("Work", 1935), "Mangina Ivrit" ("Hebrew Melody", 1935), "Yaldei HaShemesh" ("Children of the Sun", 1939) and "Adamah" ("The Land", 1947).