About The Artist

Wolf Suschitzky, born in Vienna 1912, has had a coveted career working with visual imagery for over seventy years. An established documentary photographer and cinematographer, he has worked on over 200 feature films, TV productions and documentaries. He was strongly involved in the pioneering days of documentary filmmaking, founding the DATA film cooperative in 1944 and working closely with Paul Rocha who, even today, is seen to be one of the forefathers of the British documentary film. This long and successful career has enabled Wolfgang to photograph all around the world, but perhaps most notably in London throughout the 1930’s and 40’s, a city he has come to call home for over fifty years.

He studied photography at Hohere Graphische Lehr –und Versuchsanstalt in his native Vienna, and with the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party in 1934 was forced to leave Austria for the Netherlands, moving a year later to London. Here, temporarily categorised as a enemy alien by the British government (and as such being restricted to pursuing any form of employment) Wolf spent vast amounts of time roaming the streets of London, documenting with his camera the everyday occurrences of a city on the brink of transformation, a city of which was soon to become embroiled in the Second World War and as such was a city fast disappearing. The resulting portrait of London largely revolves around its inhabitants, documenting with warmth and sincerity the individuals, from all walks of life, who lived and worked in the city. The photographs also seek to act as a strong historical document; a powerful testimony to a time and way of life long passed away, highlighting in turn the significant contribution Wolf Suschitzky has made towards twentieth century history.