At the Open Fire, Carpathian Ruthenia, 1938.

Authors

Object ID

2021.1.117f

Object Name

Photograph

Date

1938

Files

Content Warning

The Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection consists of images, documents, and artifacts related to the Holocaust. The collection contains materials that depict a number of topics that may be difficult for viewers to engage with, including: antisemitic descriptions, caricatures, and representation of Jewish people; Nazi imagery and ideology; descriptions and images of German ghettos; graphic images of the violence of the Holocaust; and the creation of the State of Israel. For more information, see our policy page.

Description

An elderly bearded man looking into the camera lens with his left hand covering part of his face.

Text by Roman Vishniac in The Vanished World: A limited-edition portfolio published by Witkin-Berley Ltd.

In a place in the Carpathian Mountains which was far from any illumination by electricity, the only light that could be used to photograph this wise man was the open fire of burning wood. Professional photographers told me that I made a big mistake by not illuminating the dark side, and that I should be ashamed to show this picture. The future will decide.

Image Courtesy of Mara Vishniac Kohn, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, University of California, Berkeley.

Dimensions

15 x 16 3/4"

Keywords

Vishniac

Subcollection

Pre-1933: Jewish Life in Europe before Holocaust

Recommended Citation

"At the Open Fire, Carpathian Ruthenia, 1938." (1938). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2021.1.117f.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1826