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Helmar Lerski, a French-born Jewish photographer and cinematographer, 18 February 1871 – 19 September 1956, Zürich . He was one of the most important photographers of the 1930s and 1940s and the most important photographer in the Land of Israel during the period before the founding of the state.
Helmar Lerski was born in Strasbourg, France, under the name Israel Schmuklerski. He grew up in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1893 he emigrated to the United States, where he joined a German-speaking theater group in Chicago as one of the actors. In 1909 he left the theater, and in 1910 opened a photography studio in Milwaukee.
In 1915 he emigrated to Berlin, where in addition to his work as a photographer, he worked as a cameraman and lighting technician at the UFA Studio for films such as "Opium" (1918) and "Metropolis" (1926). In 1928 Lerski returned to portrait photography in the expressionist style, which was expressed in close up photographs of his subjects, and in his use of lighting and dramatic contrasts.
In 1931 he immigrated to the Land of Israel. In his Tel Aviv home he opened a photography studio, and there he taught students the techniques of photography and artistic photography. In 1940 he was elected honorary president of the Palestine Professional Photographers Association (PPPA), and even taught photography courses within the framework of this association. In addition to his work as a photographer, he also produced eight documentary films, including "Work" (1935), "Children of the Sun" (1939), and "The Land" (1947).
In 1948 Lerski emigrated to Switzerland, where he died in 1956.