Herbert Gehr (later Edmund Bert Gerard) (1910–1983) was a Jewish German-American photographer and television director who was associated with ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine.

Career

In the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

Gehr worked as a

stills photographer A unit still photographer (or simply still photographer) creates still photos specifically for use in publicity and marketing of feature films and television productions. In addition to creating photographs for the promotion of a film, the still ...

before travelling to Egypt at the wars commencement where he shot

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...

s for Wide World photos. With the advent of Nazism in his native Germany, Gehr moved to the United States in March 1937. Upon arrival in the United States, Gehr found representation with the

Black Star Black Star or Blackstar may refer to: Astronomy *Black star (semiclassical gravity), a theoretical star built using semiclassical gravity as an alternative to a black hole *Saturn, referred to as "Black Star" in ancient Judaeic belief *Black dwarf ...

photo agency, and began working for ''

'' magazine in 1938, photographing a large variety of subjects and stories for them over the next few years. By 1940 Gehr had been described as having shot such diverse subjects as "sphinxes, hair ribbons, wars and movie stars" for the magazine. Gehr left ''Life'' in 1950 and became a television director for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

Technique

Gehr's photographic style was renowned for his use of

artificial light Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight. ...

. Gehr once used twenty assistants to illuminate six blocks of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Meatpacking District The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan that runs from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street. The Meatpacking Business Improvement District alo ...

with

flash bulb A flash is a device used in photography that produces a brief burst of light (lasting around of a second) at a color temperature of about 5500 K to help illuminate a scene. The main purpose of a flash is to illuminate a dark scene. Other use ...

s, and in a photograph of the

Great Sphinx of Giza The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. Facing east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The original sh ...

taken for ''Life'' in 1938, he used the headlights of three cars to illuminate the scene, with an exposure time of three hours.

Trial

In July 1950, shortly after leaving ''Life'', Gehr accidentally shot his wife dead. In search of evidence of his adultery, Gehr's wife had unexpectedly arrived in the middle of the night at his country house near

Brewster, New York Brewster is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and the principal settlement within the town (New York), town of Southeast, New York, Southeast in Putnam County, New York, Putnam County, New York (state), New York, United Sta ...

with detectives, while Gehr was with his

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

. Mistaking the visitors for prowlers, his shooting also injured two of the four detectives present. His mistress leapt out of a window. Gehr was arrested and stood trial for second degree murder, and was acquitted. Gehr changed his name after the trial. At the conclusion of the case the jurors blamed Gehr's case on the divorce laws of New York state, as his wife had been seeking evidence for his adultery, which was required by law. Gehr resumed his work as a television director after his trial.

Recognition

In 1955

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

curator of photography

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (; March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter and curator and a pioneer of fashion photography. His gown images for the magazine ''Art et Décoration'' in 1911 were the first modern ...

included one of Gehr's ''LIFE'' photographs in the world-touring ''

The Family of Man ''The Family of Man'' was an ambitious exhibition of 503 photographs from 68 countries curated by Edward Steichen, the director of the New York City Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) department of photography. According to Steichen, the exhibitio ...

'' exhibition, seen by 9 million visitors, and also in its widely distributed catalogue, which is still in print. Gehr won three

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s before his 1983 death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gehr, Herbert 1911 births 1983 deaths American television directors Artists from Berlin Emmy Award winners Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Jewish American artists Life (magazine) photojournalists American people acquitted of murder People from Brewster, New York

Career

Technique

Trial

Recognition

See also

References