Roman Vishniac is best known for having traversed Eastern Europe from 1935 through 1938 on assignment to photograph Jewish life. Less than a decade later these communities would be wiped out and Vishniac’s iconic photographs would provide the last visual records of an entire world. After the war, his documentation continued with photographs of Berlin in ruins and Jewish children in Displaced Persons camps. Vishniac was also a respected scientist who made considerable contributions in the field of microscopic photography. His “Living Biology” series were some of the first films depicting life through a microscope and became a staple in the 1960s and 1970s in classrooms across the United States.
Join the Museum for a screening of the new film Vishniac, which delves into the person and story behind the photos as it frames Vishniac’s legacy as a key modernist photographer and preserver of memory. Through his stunning images, the film introduces new audiences to a lost world that is quickly fading from our grasp. The film was executive produced by Nancy Spielberg, Ori Eisen, Mirit Eisen, Taube Philanthropies, and the Maimonides Fund.