Shimon Rudolf "Rudi" Weissenstein (; February 17, 1910 – October 20, 1992) was an Israeli photographer. He was best known for his extensive documentation of the everyday life of Jewish immigrants in the 1930s. The only photographs of Israel's declaration of independence by

David Ben Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder and first prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency from 1935, and later president of the Jewish Agency ...

in 1948 are by Weissenstein, who built a collection of over a million negatives.

Biography

Rudi Weissenstein was born on 17 February 1910 in the Bohemian-Moravian town of

Jihlava Jihlava (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. Jihlava is the capital of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava (river), Jihlava River on the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia. Historically, Jihla ...

and grew up as one of four children. From 1929 to 1931, he completed an apprenticeship as a book printer at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt in Vienna. He then completed his military service in the Czechoslovak army and then worked as a photographer at the Prague and Vienna newspapers. Since 1934, Weissenstein planned his emigration to

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and he left Europe in the late 1935, reaching Haifa in January 1936. He continued to work as a photographer and journalist and in 1940 married Miriam Arnstein (1913–2011), who had studied dance and acrobatics in Vienna and had emigrated to Palestine before Weissenstein. Together they opened Photo House Pri-Or in Tel Aviv on Allenby street in 1940. Weissenstein documented the Jewish everyday and cultural life in Tel Aviv, including numerous prominent personalities – artists and politicians, such as

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Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

and the painter Nahum Gutman. He photographed for the

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is a major Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert ...

since the first concert conducted by

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

. Weissenstein's most well-known photograph is that of the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, by

, where he was the only accredited photographer.

Legacy

Rudi Weissenstein died in 1992 and his estate – a photo archive of more than 250,000 negatives was managed and maintained by his widow until her death in 2011. Since 2011, the archive and Photo House is managed by his grandson Ben Peter Weissenstein in a new store on Tshernichovski Street, received from the Tel Aviv municipality. Miriam Weissenstein and Ben Peter Weissenstein were part of the documentary film "Life In Stills" by Tamar Tal, dealing among other things with the history of Rudi Weissenstein's photo house.

Exhibitions

Weissenstein's photographs have been shown and awarded numerous prizes in Israel and abroad, among others in 1961 with the award at the International Photography Exhibition in Moscow for the recording "Working Hands". His works were exhibited in Heussenstamm Gallery in Frankfurt, Germany; Eckhart Gallery, The Hague; The Jewish Museum in Munich, Germany. The last exhibition in Germany "Your happy eyes" in 2010 was opened by Miriam Weissenstein.

Bibliography

* Dvir Ori: Rudi Weissenstein. Israel Early Photographs. Modan Publishing House, Ben-Shemen 2008, . * Michal Amram, Anna-Patricia Kahn, Ben Peter (Hrsg.): Rudi. Discovering the Weissenstein Archive. Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg 2016, .

References

External links

Life in Stills
A documentary about Rudi Weissenstein. {{DEFAULTSORT:Weissenstein, Rudolf 1910 births 1992 deaths People from Jihlava Czech Jews Israeli photographers Czechoslovak emigrants to Israel Photographers in Palestine (region)