Out of Exile. The Photography of Fred Stein (1909-1967)

Fred Stein lived through some of the greatest upheavals of the 20th century. He escaped Nazi Germany; he mingled with Chagall and Brecht in Paris; and he debated with Einstein in New York. He was a scholar, a refugee, and an idealist. But above all, he was a photographer. An early innovator of hand-held street photography in 1930s France and 1940s New York, his images are sophisticated, beautiful, and touching; his portraits include some of the most important people of the mid-20th century, like Albert Einstein.

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This program features curator Ulrike Kuschel and son Peter Stein in conversation, moderated by Rachel Stern, director of the Fritz Ascher Society.

Ulrike Kuschel studied Fine Arts at the Berlin University of the Arts (Hochschule der Künste) in Berlin and has realized numerous artistic projects in Germany and abroad. In 2010 she was a fellow at the Villa Massimo in Rome. At the same time, she worked for a picture agency for many years and taught photography and the history of photography at various universities. From 2017 to 2020 she was a member of the jury of the Kunstfonds Foundation (Stiftung Kunstfonds) for the publication and education program. Since 2019, she has been working on various projects at the German Historical Museum (Deutsches Historisches Museum) in Berlin: in 2019/2020 she assisted in the exhibition “Hannah Arendt and the 20th Century”, and in 2021 she curated the exhibition “Report from Exile – Photographs by Fred Stein” (December 11, 2020 to June 20, 2021). She is currently working on a digital history project.

Peter Stein, ASC has been the Director of Photography on over 50 feature films, TV movies, and documentaries, covering the last 35 years and was invited to join the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers in 1999. He grew up learning photography from his father, noted street photographer and portraitist Fred Stein. After deciding on a career in film he became a camera operator on the feature film “Between the Lines” directed by Joan Micklin Silver. He has lensed major studio and independent releases, including drama, comedy, suspense, horror and various cult films – and has been nominated for two Emmy Awards.

Peter has taught at SUNY Purchase and The School of Visual Arts, has lectured on cinematography at the New School, Hofstra, Fairleigh Dickenson, CCNY, Marist and UMass, and was a professor in the Graduate Film Program at New York University for 13 years, where he also served as Head of Production. He manages the photo archive of his father Fred Stein, and produced and directed the film about him “Out of Exile – The Photography of Fred Stein.”

This event is part of the monthly series Flight or Fight. stories of artists under repression.

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