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Alfons Himmelreich, Israeli, born in Germany, 1904-1993

Alfons Himmelreich was born in Munich, Germany in 1904. He came from a wealthy family that dealt in the textile trade. As a youth Himmelreich was active in “Wehrkraft” [undermining Nazis’ morale] and in the J.J.W.B. (Jung Juedischer Wanderbund; Young Jewish Ramblers League), and he studied drawing. In 1917 he was given his first camera and began studying photography as an autodidact. In 1933 he made Aliyah to the Land of Israel and settled in Tel Aviv. At first he worked as a carpenter, and then he opened a photography studio on Shenkin Street. In 1941 he moved to a new apartment and also opened a photography studio on the top floor of a building on 114 Allenby Street, where he lived until 1992. Between 1937 and 1956 he exhibited in international art exhibitions and salons. From the 1940s he saw out of only one eye. Among the main themes of his photographs are dance, architecture, and portraiture. In addition he did commissioned photographs of Jewish industry in the Land of Israel. His works were influenced by the German Bauhaus tradition in all aspects of their composition.