Mourning For Photographer Harry Weber

Austrian photographer Harry Weber died aged 85 in the night to 10 April 2007 after suffering from a heart disease.
Weber was born in the town of Klosterneuburg (Lower Austria), fled from the Nazis to Palestine and returned to Vienna after WWII. He was one of the most eminent representatives of Austrian photo- journalism. As the chief photographer of the magazine “Stern” for Austria, Weber shaped the discipline of documentary photography for many years. He soon also won renown as a photographer of music and theatre productions. In 2002 he was awarded the Great Austrian State Prize for Artistic Photography and the professional title “professor”. Being a modest personality, he always refused to be referred to as an “artist”. Nevertheless, he is considered to belong to the Austrian elite of classical photography – together with Inge Morath, Franz Hubmann und Erich Lessing. Weber published several excellent photo volumes, e.g. “Wien bei Nacht“ (Vienna By Night), “Wien – Gesichter einer Stadt“ (Vienna – Faces of a City) and “Salzburg im Licht“ (Salzburg in the Light), “Die Wiener Philharmoniker“ (The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) and “Jerusalem“.
In 1994 the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna presented his photo series “The Others“. In 1996 the Jewish Museum Vienna staged the show “Today in Vienna. Photographs Documenting Contemporary Jewish Life by Harry Weber“. In 2001 an homage was paid to him with “A Life in Photographs“ at Palais Harrach in Vienna.
Federal President Heinz Fischer showed himself deeply moved by the death of the photographer and praised in particular his documentary work, from the photos illustrating the process leading to the Austrian State Treaty to the Hungarian Revolution in 1956.
Minister of Culture Claudia Schmied stated in a press release that Harry Weber’s photos depicted “cruelty and every-day life in a condensed reality”. Nevertheless, he had been one of “the kindest persons in the hectic environment of photo-journalism“.

© Federal Chancellery Austria