ASHER FELLIG’S invaluable contribution to the art of photography, or scandalous Viji

“My name is Viji. I am the greatest photographer in the world …”

Asher Fellig was born at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the town of Zolochev, which at that time belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After 11 years, the boy and his family moved to live in New York, where he changed his name to Arthur. The life of an emigrant made the teenager start working at the age of 14. He changes several places before becoming an assistant photographer. This event, apparently, radically influenced his future fate. Arthur began to work as a street portrait painter with a pony nowhere without special training, then he became a laboratory assistant at a photo studio. Working during the day in the studio, at night he went on a “photo hunt”. Now, the life of New York at night during the Great Depression is considered a certain style and distinctive sign, created, including, by such a talent as Viji. Continue reading →