Erich Lessing

Career

Lessing was born in Vienna into a Jewish family, the son of a dentist and a concert pianist. Before completing high school he was forced to leave Austria in 1939 because of Hitler's rise to power. He immigrated to the British Mandate for Palestine (now Israel). His mother remained in Vienna and later was murdered at Auschwitz. While in Israel Lessing studied radio engineering at the Technion and then worked agricultural jobs on kibbutzim. He then joined the British Army as a photographer and aviator.

After World War II, Lessing returned to Austria in 1947 and joined the Associated Press. David Seymour invited Lessing to join Magnum Photos in 1951 and Lessing became a full member in 1955. His photographs were published in Time, Fortune, Life, Paris Match, Picture Post, Epoca and Quick. He documented politics in post-war Europe, especially in Communist countries.

In the 1960s, Lessing turned to more cultural subjects such as art, science, and history, by taking portraits of poets, musicians, physicists, and astronomers. With these photographs, Lessing produced around 60 books.

Lessing taught in Arles, France, at the Venice Biennale, at the Salzburg Summer Academy, and at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna. His work has been exhibited throughout the world.

In 2013 he donated 60,000 images to the archives of the Austrian National Library.