SUSCHITZKY'S LENS ON LONDON

Vienna’s 1934 February uprising was a turning point for 21-year-old Wolfgang Suschitzky. When troops loyal to Austria’s fascist chancellor, Engelbert Dollfuss, turned their artillery on the housing estates occupied by left-wing opponents, Suschitzky knew it was time to leave. Arriving in London in 1935 he took a job as a cameraman for Strand Films, where he soon earned renown as a cinematographer and photographer.

Now 68 of Suschitzky’s acclaimed black-and-white photographs are on show at London’s Chambers Gallery. As a photographer, Suschitzky is best known for his portrayal of London in the 1930s and 40s. His series of pictures taken on Charing Cross Road provides an evocative social history of the area. A photograph from 1935 of a milkman pushing a hand-cart in a cold, driving downpour, his breath clouding in front of him, the road slick with rain and reflection, captures the hardship of many people’s lives at the time (pictured above). In contrast is a shot of a bowler-hatted gent with time on his hands, standing outside Foyles bookshop, immersed in reading (pictured below).

Suschitzky, jaunty, twinkly and now 97, pointed his lens at a range of subjects. Animals were a favourite; his 1958 portrait of Guy, London Zoo’s famous gorilla, behind the bars of his cage, his face wise, sad and indelibly human, is particularly poignant. Powerful portraits are also on show: Nehru in Delhi in 1955, his brow furrowed, cigarette smoke drifting from his mouth; a thoughtful Ben Gurion in Jerusalem in 1957; a profile shot of Michael Caine on the set of “Get Carter” in 1970 (Suschitzky was the film’s cinematographer). And the closeness of child siblings is a touching theme: his portrayal of a young child embracing another in Burma is a joyful reminder of the close relationship Suschitzky had with his sister Edith Tudor-Hart, also a photographer.

Of all the photographs being exhibited it is the affectionate, observational shots of people that are most notable. “Spectator”, taken in Trinidad in 1960 shows a man in pale suit and panama hat, his chin in his hand, lost in a world completely of his own. And Suschitzky’s favourite? A portrait of a Trinidadian girl in a white dress looking out of a window, her soft features contrasting with the rough wood of the window frame, curtain fabric floating above her head, her eyes drawing the observer in. When asked why, Suschitzky stands thoughtful for a moment. “Because she’s dreaming”, he says.