Eastman House presents David Seymour retrospective, Reflections from the Heart

Photographs by Magnum founder and photojournalist "Chim" capture world events from 1933-1956; exhibition opens Jan. 20

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, in partnership with the Corcoran Museum of Art and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, presents an exhibition of more than 70 photographs by founding Magnum photographer David Seymour, also known as Chim. Reflections of the Heart: Photographs by David Seymour will be on view at Eastman House Jan. 20 through April 22, 2007. This retrospective showcases many of the black-and-white images for which photojournalist Seymour is best known, in addition to rare color images never-before on exhibition.

Seymour's photographs were published in leading magazines from 1933 to 1956 and redefined photojournalism, inviting viewers to identify directly with the people he photographed. Seymour felt deeply the wounds that plagued the human spirit and illustrated through his photographs that hope could prevail in times of turmoil. His best-known images capture some of the most poignant and dramatic events of the 20th century. Seymour died in 1956 covering the Suez Crisis in Egypt, killed by a machine-gunner four days after the Armistice at Suez — losing his life while trying to promote peace and understanding through his images.

Reflections from the Heart is an important retrospective of Seymour's career — a career that inspired subsequent generations of socially concerned photographers and helped change the way people experience distant lives and historic events. Several images from the George Eastman House collection are featured in the exhibition, many from recent acquisitions. In 2005 the Eastman House acquired 36 Seymour photographs from Seymour's nephew, Ben Shneiderman. The year prior 23 Seymour images, all illustrating the effects of the Greek War, were donated to the Eastman House by George Stephanopoulos, of which nine will be featured in this retrospective. Eastman House will be touring this exhibition internationally upon its closing at the museum in spring 2007.

When the political upheaval in Europe in the 1930s dashed Seymour's dreams of completing his science studies in Paris, he borrowed a camera from a family friend and began a career in photojournalism. Seymour had no formal photography training but his work marked an acute sense of history and the humanistic side of ideals of his time. He covered major political events beginning with the Spanish Civil War. At the start of World War II, he became a U.S. citizen and joined the U.S. Army as a photo-interpreter, taking the name David Robert Seymour to avoid Nazi reprisals against his family in occupied Poland.

Born in Warsaw, Poland, Dawid Szymin grew up surrounded by art, music, and literature. After he moved to Paris in 1931 he adopted the professional moniker "CHIM," a French phonetic abbreviation of his surname. He was well-educated, fluent in several languages and had deep affinities for different countries and their peoples. In covering many important subjects and historical moment — such as the plight of the French working class; organization of the socialist Front Populaire; the Spanish Civil War; World War II; post-war life in Italy and Greece; early evolution of the state of Israel; and the Suez Canal crisis — Seymour aimed to inform his audience so that they might better understand the potential of the world. His images were published in leading magazines, such as Life, Paris Match, This Week, and Regards.

Seymour loved photographing people going about their lives, often under difficult circumstances such as war and its aftermath, and revealing their humanity. His photographs depicting the physically and spiritually maimed children of Europe attracted worldwide attention, illustrating the suffering of these forgotten victims of war. He is perhaps best remembered for his body of work referred to as Chim's Children. UNESCO and UNICEF commissioned this body of work in 1948. It dealt with the plight of children in post-war Europe. Many of these moving images were published in magazines around the world and earned Seymour a reputation as the quintessential empathetic photojournalist.

In 1947, with Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and others, Chim became a founding member of Magnum Photos, Inc., the pioneering international photojournalist cooperative that continues to set standards in international photojournalism today — celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2007. The company's aim was editorial independence: to be first in concept, quality, and timing, and to place their stories all over the world through their own offices.

Seymour made few pictures in which the subject speaks with his or her eyes looking directly into the lens. His camera was more like a tape recorder, neither hidden nor directly confronting, but unobtrusively placed nearby. It was through him that the camera became "friendly" and open to "hearing" the stories. He listened with his own eyes and simultaneously guided the lens. Cartier-Bresson gave the greatest tribute to his friend when he said, "Chim picked up his camera the way a doctor takes his stethoscope out of his bag, applying his diagnosis to the condition of the heart. His own was vulnerable."

During the 1950s Seymour photographed many politicians, musicians, authors, and actors for various magazines. In addition to photojournalism, the exhibition includes his rarely seen color images of famous personalities of the 20th century, including Ingrid Bergman, Kirk Douglas, and Sophia Loren.

Reflections from the Heart at George Eastman House is part of the Eastman House series titled "Witness: Know War/Know Genocide." The exhibition is accompanied by the publication, David Seymour (Chim) (Phaidon, 2005), which features text and captions by Tom Beck, chief curator, University Maryland, Baltimore County, who is a leading scholar of Seymour's art and curator of the exhibition.

Opening event at Eastman House
An opening event for Reflections from the Heart: Photographs by David Seymour is at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, featuring an illustrated lecture in the Dryden Theatre with Ben Shneiderman, Seymour's nephew. The lecture will be followed by an exhibition viewing and a reception with refreshments in the Potter Peristyle. Admission is $10 (free to members). For more information, please call (585) 271-3361.

Exhibition sponsorship
Reflections from the Heart: Photographs by David Seymour is organized by the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in collaboration with The Corcoran Gallery of Art and George Eastman House. The exhibition is made possible by generous support from Ben Shneiderman and Epson USA Inc.

For more information
For more information about the Eastman House exhibition or opening event, please visit www.eastmanhouse.org or call (585) 271-3361. Admission to George Eastman House is $8 for adults; $6 for senior citizens (60 and older); $5 for students; $3 for children (5 to 12); and free for children 4 and under and museum members.

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