Marianne Breslauer

Injust10years,MarianneBreslauer‘scareerasaphotographerhadmarkedheroutasanambitiousphotojournalistofthelateWeimarRepublic,beforeemigrationandtheoutbreakofwarbroughtthisauspiciousbeginningtoanabrupthalt.Educatedfrom1927to1929attherenownedLette-HausinBerlin,MarianneBreslauerwentnexttoParis.HerfirstpostingwaswithManRay,whotoldthe20-year-oldthatshecoulddoeverythingalreadyandwarmlyinvitedhertomakeuseofhisstudio.Shegladlytookuptheoffer,yetherintrinsicdomainremainedthethestreet:thequaysoftheSeine,theJardinduLuxembourg,thestreetperformersontheRued‘Orléans.ThesephotosattractedtheattentionoftheillustratedGermannewspapers,whosoonfurnishedherwithcommissions.Shephotographedeveryonewhowasanyoneintheartworldoflate-1920s-Berlin,travelledtoSpainwithAnnemarieSchwarzenbach,andportrayedErikaMann‘scabaret,‘ThePepperMill’,inZurich.Withaninfallibleintuitionforatmosphereandcompositionalingenuity,shecapturedtheessenceoflifeinaneracomingtoaclose.In1936shehadtoemigratefromGermany,takingallherphotographymaterialsinherbag.ThephotographerMarianneBreslauerwasonlyaroundforasingle,briefdecade.FollowingtheSecondWorldWar,shebecametheartdealerMarianneFeilchenfeldt.Now,ontheoccasionofthe100thanniversaryofherbirth,thephotographeristoberediscoveredanew.Inthisrichlyillustratedcatalogueofworks,herdistinctivepictureswillfinallybevisibleoncemore.