In 2012 I was lucky plenty of to go to photographer and cinematographer Wolf Suschitzky in his Tiny Venice, London apartment. The previous night he experienced been at the Austrian Embassy receiving an award for his life’s get the job done. It experienced been a late night time and he was fatigued when we spoke but irrespective of his age (100) at the time, his memory was however sharp and accurate. I have experienced this whole audio, recorded for a magazine report, since we achieved but this is the 1st time that I have produced it typically obtainable. I hope you enjoy it!
Wolfgang Suschitzky, BSC (29 August 19127 October 2016), was an Austrian-born British documentary photographer, as very well as a cinematographer perhaps greatest recognized for his collaboration with Paul Rotha in the 1940s and his work on Mike Hodges’ 1971 film Get Carter. His pictures have been exhibited at the National Gallery, the Austrian Cultural Forum in London and the Photographers’ Gallery, and show up in quite a few worldwide images collections.
Suschitzky was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. His father was of Jewish origin, but had renounced his religion in 1908 and become an atheist, or “konfessionslos”. He opened the first social democratic bookshop in Vienna (later to come to be a publisher), and Suschitzky was born in the apartment earlier mentioned the bookshop. His sister was photographer Edith Tudor-Hart (19081973). On the advice of the counsellor for education and learning of Vienna, his father despatched Wolf to a day boarding school to discover some self-discipline. Nevertheless he continued to be mischievous and was often detained at college. Suschitzky’s initial enjoy was zoology, but he realised he could not make a residing in Austria, so in its place, affected by his sister, he researched pictures at the Hhere Graphische Bundes-Lehr-und Versuchsanstalt. At this time, the political climate in Austria was shifting from a Socialist Democracy to Austrofascism. Remaining a Socialist and of Jewish origin, Suschitzky decided there was no foreseeable future for him in Austria and in 1934 remaining for London where by his sister lived though he was in London his father committed suicide. Suschitzky married a Dutch woman, Helena Wilhelmina Maria Elisabeth (Puck) Vote in Hampstead and they moved to the Netherlands. His spouse still left him immediately after a yr. He returned to England in 1935, and in 1939 married Ilona Donath, with whom he had 3 kids.
Suschitzky’s 1st position was in the Netherlands photographing postcards for newsagents. This job lasted only a few months. He travelled to England in 1935 and grew to become a movie cameraman for Paul Rotha, with whom he had a extensive doing the job relationship. Their get the job done in the course of the war included Entire world of Plenty (1943) and government-sponsored information shorts and magazine programmes. With Rotha he graduated to aspect movies, doing work on No Resting Position (1951), which was 1 of the very first British aspect films shot fully on area. The movie was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Most effective Film in 1952. He then photographed Colin Lesslie’s production, the comedy The Oracle (1953), followed by a different Rotha film, Cat & Mouse (1958). He also worked on Jack Clayton’s quick film The Bespoke Overcoat which received an Oscar for “Best Short Subject, Two-reel“ at the 1956 Oscars. In the 1960s, Suschitzky work included Joseph Strick’s adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses (1967) and Hammer Movie Productions’ Vengeance of She (Cliff Owen, 1968). He also photographed the British crime film The Modest Globe of Sammy Lee (1963), directed by Ken Hughes. This film proved influential to screenwriter Mike Hodges, with whom Suschitzky worked on Get Carter (1971). His previous movie ahead of photographing Get Carter was the adaptation of Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr. Sloane (1970) directed by Douglas Hickox.
His other credits include two films directed by Jack Couffer, Ring of Bright Drinking water (1969) and Dwelling Cost-free (1972), which was the sequel to Born Cost-free. Challenge 12 of Lid magazine showcased a 20-eight-web site portfolio of Suschitzky’s photographs with a portrait and essay by Gerard Malanga. Suschitzky died on 7 October 2016 at the age of 104. The Wolf Suschitzky Photography Prize has been awarded each individual two several years given that 2018 by the Austrian Cultural Discussion board London: to reflect Suschitzky’s connection to his homeland as perfectly as his adopted nation, the prize is awarded at the same time to a person Austrian and 1 British photographer. A jury selects a single winner from every single country, who will acquire prize dollars, exhibition prospects and a residency in the other country.
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