Urban Eyes

Helene Roth

ISBN 10: 9462704953 / ISBN 13: 9789462704954

Published by Leuven University Press, BE, 2026

About this Item

Exile through the camera's eye in New YorkWhen the National Socialists came to power, New York became a major city of arrival and a new base for German-speaking photographers. At this time, photography was undergoing a radical transformation as it sought to establish itself as an art form. The émigrés, in turn, brought with them a broad spectrum of professional training and photographic skills. The camera served as a medium for engaging with the metropolis, reflecting on the experience of migration, building networks and simply surviving economically.In order to comprehensively analyse the complex relationships between photography and exile in the context of the metropolis of New York, Helene Roth takes a closer look at the creative achievements and heterogeneous perspectives, but also the setbacks of émigré photographers. From a transnational perspective, she engages with the socio-cultural, political and artistic developments of the 1930s and 1940s.The German edition of 'Urban Eyes' (Wallstein Verlag, 2024) was awarded the Gold Medal in the category 'Photography Theory Textbook' by the jury of the German Photo Book Award 2025/2026. The dissertation on which this monograph is based received the Claus-Dieter Krohn Prize (2024).

Seller Inventory # LU-9789462704954

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Urban Eyes
• Publisher: Leuven University Press, BE
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9462704953
• ISBN 13: 9789462704954
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 454 grams

About this title

Synopsis

When the National Socialists came to power, New York became a major city of arrival and a new base for German-speaking photographers. At this time, photography was undergoing a radical transformation as it sought to establish itself as an art form. The migrants, in turn, brought with them a broad spectrum of professional training and photographic skills. The camera served as a medium for engaging with the metropolis, reflecting on the experience of migration, building networks and simply surviving economically.

In order to comprehensively analyse the complex relationships between photography and exile in the context of the metropolis of New York, Helene Roth takes a closer look at the creative achievements and heterogeneous perspectives, but also the setbacks of migrated photographers. From a transnational perspective, she engages with the socio-cultural, political and artistic developments of the 1930s and 1940s.

English translation of Urban Eyes: Deutschsprachige Fotograf*innen im New Yorker Exil in den 1930er- und 1940er-Jahren, Helen Roth (Wallstein Verlag 2023)

About the Author

Helene Roth is research assistant at Institute of Art History at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.