David Seymour (Chim)
An overview of the career of the Polish-born American photojournalist.Tom Beck

The American photojournalist David Seymour (Chim), born in Poland (1911-56), used his camera to record political upheavals and social change during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s
A founding member of the Magnum photo agency, Seymour's photographic legacy is here shown to include outstanding portraits of personalities of the time, such as Bernard Berenson and Sophia Loren, as well as his photojournalism and images of the Spanish Civil War
Known for his sensitive documentation of war and its devastating effects, Seymour attracted world attention with his study of children in postwar Europe for UNICEF
Documents the development of Seymour's photography through a chronologically presented sequence of 55 images
Introductory essay provides a fresh perspective on Seymour's life and work, placing him in the context of his time and within the history of photography.

David Seymour, or Szymin, was born in Warsaw in 1911, the son of a Polish publisher. In 1929 he studied graphic arts and photography at the academy in Leipzig, where he specialized in the new techniques of printing pictures in colour. In 1931 he moved to Paris to study science at the Sorbonne. However, with the political problems that developed in Poland he was advised to take up photography by David Rappaport, the founder of the Rap agency, who in 1932 provided him with his first 35mm camera. He began to contribute to magazines such as Vu, Regards and Ce Soir, travelling throughout Europe to capture significant events that have left their mark on much of the history of the twentieth century. He also travelled to Spain in 1936 to cover the Civil War, and in his photographs of the plight of the civilian population he achieved some of his finest work.
This book covers the full range of Seymour's career, from early photos of unrest in France for European and American magazines to his UNICEF-sponsored study of children in postwar Europe, which attracted worldwide attention. Among his many photographic essays are the outstanding portraits of personalities such as Bernard Berenson, who were treated with the same intensity as anonymous sitters. A founding member of t