Wolfgang Suschitzky

Wolfgang Suschitzky
Born	29 August 1912 Vienna,Austria-Hungary
Died	7 October 2016 (aged 104) London, England, UK
Nationality	Austrian (1912–1947) British (1947–2016)
Occupation(s)	Cinematographer, Photographer
Years active	1934–1984
Spouse	Ilona Donath Suschitzky
Children	3, includingPeter

Wolfgang Suschitzky,BSC(29 August 1912 – 7 October 2016), was an Austrian-born British documentaryphotographer,as well as acinematographerperhaps best known for his collaboration withPaul Rothain the 1940s and his work onMike Hodges' 1971 filmGet Carter.

Andrew Pulver described Suschitzky in 2007 as "a living link to the prewar glory days of theBritish documentary movement."Steve Chibnall writes that Suschitzky "[developed] a reputation as an expertlocation photographerwith a documentarist's ability to extract atmosphere from naturalistic settings. "His photographs have been exhibited at theNational Gallery,theAustrian Cultural Forumin London andthe Photographers' Gallery,and appear in many international photography collections. He was the father of cinematographerPeter Suschitzky(born 1941),classical musicianand writer Misha Donat, and Julia Donat.

Early life

Suschitzky was born inVienna,Austria-Hungary.His father was aViennesesocial democratof Jewish origin, but had renounced his faith in 1908 and become anatheist,or "konfessionslos". He opened the first social democratic bookshop in Vienna (later to become apublisher), and Suschitzky was born in the apartment above the bookshop. His sister was photographerEdith Tudor-Hart(1908–1973). Suschitzky said of his father "he was a great man. I realised that later on in life, not so much when I saw him every day. But, I met interesting people, some of his authors who came and had lunch with us or met people who came to his shop."In an interview at the age of 95 in September 2007, Suschitzky recalled boyhood memories of the excitement that greeted the Russian Revolution in 1917.As he was brought up with no faith, he remembered the envy of his friends that he was allowed to miss religious classes and sit outside reading a book and described himself as "a very naughty boy. We played all sorts of tricks with… my chums in the park, every afternoon." He was often in trouble at home and at school.On the advice of the counsellor for education of Vienna, his father sent him to a dayboarding schoolto learn some discipline. However he continued to be mischievous and was often detained at school.

Suschitzky's first love waszoology,but he realised he could not make a living in Austria in this discipline, so instead, influenced by his sister, he studied photography at theHöhere Graphische Bundes-Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt.At this time, the political climate in Austria was changing from a Socialist Democracy toAustrofascism.Being a Socialist and of Jewish origin, Suschitzky decided there was no future for him in Austria and in 1934 left for London where his sister lived; while he was in London his father committed suicide. Suschitzky married a Dutch woman, Helena Wilhelmina Maria Elisabeth (Puck) Voûte inHampsteadand they moved to the Netherlands. His wife left him after a year, which he said "was great luck because had I stayed there, I wouldn’t be alive anymore, I'm sure."He returned to England in 1935, and in 1939 married Ilona Donath, with whom he had three children.

Career

Suschitzky's first job was in the Netherlands photographing postcards for newsagents. This job lasted only a few months.He travelled to England in 1935 and became a film cameramanforPaul Rotha,with whom he had a long working relationship. Their work during the war includedWorld of Plenty(1943) and government-sponsoredinformation shortsandmagazine programmes.With Rotha he graduated to feature films, working onNo Resting Place(1951), which was one of the first British feature films shot entirely on location. The film was nominated for aBAFTA Award for Best Filmin 1952. He then photographed Colin Lesslie's production, the comedyThe Oracle(1953), followed by another Rotha film,Cat & Mouse(1958). He also worked onJack Clayton's short filmThe Bespoke Overcoatwhich won anOscar for "Best Short Subject, Two-reel"at the1956 Oscars.He also took a photograph of the writerC. S. Lewisin approximately 1959.

In the 1960s, Suschitzky work includedJoseph Strick's adaptation ofJames Joyce'sUlysses(1967) andHammer Film Productions'Vengeance of She(Cliff Owen, 1968). He also photographed the British crime filmThe Small World of Sammy Lee(1963), directed byKen Hughes.This film proved influential to screenwriterMike Hodges,with whom Suschitzky worked onGet Carter(1971).His last film before photographingGet Carterwas the adaptation ofJoe Orton'sEntertaining Mr. Sloane(1970) directed byDouglas Hickox.

His other credits include two films directed byJack Couffer,Ring of Bright Water(1969) andLiving Free(1972), which was the sequel toBorn Free.Issue 12 ofLidmagazine featured a twenty-eight-page portfolio of Suschitzky's photographs with a portrait and essay byGerard Malanga.His sonPeter SuschitzkyASC/BSC is also a cinematographer. Wolf (or Su, as he is also known) is featured in the bookConversations with Cinematographersby David A Ellis (Scarecrow Press).

Photography

For Suschitzky, who was described as having "social conscience of a documentarian and the eye of a german expressionist",the depiction of work and working people occupies a central place in his photographic oeuvre.,documentary photography consisted in the sympathetic-commentary depiction of social conditions: "The photo document is the reflection of the contemporary scene and represents in its best form subtle photographic comment on social conditions, rather than direct social propaganda",Suschitzky said. At the beginning of his career, he photographed classic commissioned works for magazines such asPicture Post,Illustrated, Animal and Zoo or Geographic Magazine;later, his photographs were largely taken alongside his work as a cameraman. Characteristic of his photographic work is that it is often not possible to clearly distinguish between his fields of activity, that he often used film and photo camera almost simultaneously, which can lead to special aesthetic effects, such as motifs existing several times in different contexts or documentary photography being created on the fringes of cinematic productions, as Peter Schreiner puts it:

"Suschitzky's Photographs "are difficult to ascribe to a particular photographic genre. On the one hand, they represent vivid records that provide an account of what are now historical contexts, of traditional craft and of heavy industrial production, but above all of social relationships within a restless world. On the other, they themselves are the products of a particular context of production. The fact that they were taken either on the periphery or at the very heart of (documentary) film sets [...] is also an essential characteristic that contributes to Wolf Suschitzky's distinctive blend of naturalistic and staged moments."

His photographic estate is largely housed in the FOTOHOFarchiv.

Death

Suschitzky died on 7 October 2016 at the age of 104 in London.

Wolf Suschitzky Photography Prize

The Wolf Suschitzky Photography Prize has been awarded every two years since 2018 by theAustrian Cultural Forum London:to reflect Suschitzky's connection to his homeland as well as his adopted country,the prize is awarded simultaneously to one Austrian and one British photographer. A jury will select one winner from each country, who will receive prize money, exhibition opportunities and a residency in the other country.

Filmography

• World of Plenty(Paul Rotha, 1943)
• The World Is Rich(1947)
• No Resting Place(Paul Rotha, 1951)
• The Oracle(C.M. Pennington-Richards,1953)
• Cat & Mouse(Paul Rotha, 1958)
• The Bespoke Overcoat(1956)
• Snow(Geoffrey Jones,1963)
• Sands of Beersheba(1966)
• Ulysses(Joseph Strick,1967)
• Vengeance of She(Cliff Owen,1968)
• Les Bicyclettes de Belsize(1968)
• The Small World of Sammy Lee(Ken Hughes1963),
• Ring of Bright Water(Jack Couffer, 1969)
• Entertaining Mr. Sloane(Douglas Hickox,1970)
• Get Carter(Mike Hodges, 1971)
• Living Free(Jack Couffer,1972)
• Some Kind of Hero(1972)
• Theatre of Blood(1973)
• Moments(1974)
• Something to Hide(1976)
• Falling in Love Again(1980)
• Good and Bad at Games(TV series, 1983)
• The Young Visiters(1984)
• The Chain(Jack Gold, 1984)

Publications

• 2020 Wolf Suschitzky.Work.Salzburg:FOTOHOFarchiv.ISBN978-3-903334-05-2

External links

• "Wolfgang Suschitzky, Photographer and Cinematographer, Dies at 104," by JENNIFER SZALAI, The New York Times, Oct. 8, 2016
• Wolfgang SuschitzkyatIMDb
• Compilation website of Suschitzky's photos
• Wolf Suschitsky photographs at Lumiere Gallery
• BAFTA tribute to Suschitzky
• Photographs by Wolf Suschitzky at FOTOHOFarchiv