Description
Book SynopsisHungarian-born Stefan Lorant''s work as a visual and literary editor allowed him to pioneer and develop the genré of picture-based journalism at a period that saw the emergence of modern mass communications. Lorant became a guiding force on an international scale, disseminating his ideas and political knowledge throughout Europe in the late-twenties and thirties by working in Hungary, Germany, and England. His innovative layouts, his exclusive interviews and his thirst for knowledge became a familiar part of millions of everyday lives, largely through the pages of his own creations and in particular the legendary Picture Post. Eventually his sphere of influence spread to America where he introduced the concept of the pictorial biography. His vision of photography as a documentary medium inspired Life and Look magazines and paved the way for the eventual emergence of the television documentary. For this he has become recognized as the godfather of photojournalism. Lorant''s work enligh
Trade ReviewStefan Lorant (1901-1997) started out as a filmmaker but later became a magazine editor in England and the US, giving Alfred Eisenstadt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassai, and Andre Kertesz some of their earliest assignments in that genre. (He also was jailed by Hitler in the 1930s and wrote a memoir of the experience.) Hallett, a photographic historian who is himself a photographer, traces the pioneer's life and works, with a focus on the emergence of modern mass communication in the 20th century. * Reference and Research Book News *
...a revealing biographical account of the life of the professional loner who, almost single-handedly, changed the face of European magazine publishing, long before Henry Luce dreamed up the highly successful Life picture magazine concept in the US....This neatly presented book expands on the life and foibles of a man to whom publishers, editors, photographers and the public at large owe much, because he stepped on to the photographic stage at the very time when photographers had been liberated by the advent of the 35 mm camera....Michael Hallett's biography of the godfather of photojournalism is both detailed and honest. The text is presented in short, crisp, readable chunks, which unfold Lorant's tumultuous life story in a very personal way. * Foto8 *
Hallett gets across how totally fascinating Lorant was—and how impossible he could be. And he does it with a fast-moving prose in a text as full of famous names as Lorant himself could wish for. * The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy *
The author deserves praise for garnering so much from such a tricky subjecttttt * History Of Photography, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Spring 2007) *
Recommended. * CHOICE *
The author deserves praise for garnering so much from such a tricky subject * History Of Photography, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Spring 2007) *
Table of ContentsPart 1 Prologue Part 2 Part One: Hungary and Czechoslovakia Chapter 3 1. The Formative Years, 1901-1920 Part 4 Part Two: Austria, Germany, and Back to Hungary Chapter 5 2. From Film Stills to Film Director, 1920-1924 Chapter 6 3. Pictures on the Page, 1925-1934 Part 7 Part Three: England Chapter 8 4. The Arrival, 1934 Chapter 9 5. The Between Years, 1935-1937 Chapter 10 6. Chamberlain and the Beautiful Llama, 1937-1940 Chapter 11 7. A Symphony of Photographs, 1938-1940 Chapter 12 8. Trouble with the Authorities, 1939-1940 Chapter 13 9. The Aftermath of Picture Post, 1940-1982 Part 14 Part Four: The United States Chapter 15 10. Adopted by the New World, 1940-1959 Chapter 16 11. The Mirror Cracks, 1936-1948 Chapter 17 12. Yet Another Beginning, 1959-1978 Chapter 18 13. Of People and Power, 1954-1997 Chapter 19 14. The Phone Doesn't Ring, 1979-1989 Chapter 20 15. Polishing His Reputation, 1990-1997 Part 21 Epilogue Part 22 Resources Part 23 Index Part 24 About the Author
