Eduard Kazimirovich Tisse (russian: Эдуа́рд Казими́рович Тиссэ́, lv, Eduards Tisē; 13 April 1897 – 18 November 1961) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the c ...

Early life and career

He was born to an

Estonian Swedish Estonian Swedish ( sv, estlandssvenska; et, rannarootsi keel, lit=Coastal Swedish) are the eastern varieties of Swedish that were spoken in the formerly Swedish-populated areas of Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a ...

father and Russian mother in

Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an important ice ...

; he grew up in Liepāja and studied both painting and photography. Tisse started his career as a

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, inform ...

cameraman working under difficult conditions. From 1916 to 1918, he worked as a military cameraman. In 1921, Tisse became a professor at

Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (russian: Всероссийский государственный институт кинематографии имени С. А. Герасимова, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinemat ...

. His career did not take off until he worked with director

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scre ...

on the film '' Strike''. Tisse would become Eisenstein's standard cinematographer for the next twenty years. Tisse, along with Eisenstein and Grigori Alexandrov went on a trip in 1929. They traveled to Europe and the United States with the intent of finding new sound equipment and creating connections between Hollywood and the Soviet film industry. Eisenstein signed with

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

and trio headed to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. They worked on several pictures, but nothing was actually produced. Through Eisenstein, photojournalist

Margaret Bourke-White Margaret Bourke-White (; June 14, 1904 – August 27, 1971), an American photographer and documentary photographer, became arguably best known as the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of Soviet industry under the Soviets' ...

met Tisse and in 1932, collaborated with her on ''

Eyes on Russia Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and con ...

'' (1933); this would be Bourke-White's only attempt at film making. In 1942, Tisse worked on the film '' In The Mountains of Yugoslavia'' with Soviet filmmaker

Abram Room Abram Matveyevich Room (russian: Абрам Матвеевич Роом; 28 June 1894 in Wilno, Russian Empire (now Vilnius, Lithuania) – 26 July 1976 in Moscow) was a Russian film director. He was a People's Artist of the RSFSR and winner of the ...

. The film focused on the character Slavko Babic, his life and death, as well as the Yugoslav Partisan liberation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The film proved to be very influential for future Yugoslav filmmakers. His favorite camera was the

Debrie Parvo The Parvo was a 35mm motion picture camera developed in France by André Debrie. The patent was registered in 1908 by his father, Joseph Dules Debrie. The camera was relatively compact for its time. It was hand-cranked, as were its predecesso ...

, which he continued to use even during the sound era to film silent sequences.

Selected filmography

*'' Strike'' (1924); directed by

*''

The Battleship Potemkin '' Battleship Potemkin'' (russian: Бронено́сец «Потёмкин», ''Bronenosets Potyomkin''), sometimes rendered as ''Battleship Potyomkin'', is a 1925 Soviet silent drama film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by ...

'' (1925); directed by

*'' October: Ten Days That Shook the World'' (1928); directed by

*''

Aerograd ''Aerograd'' (russian: Аэроград, also referred to as ''Air City'' or ''Frontier'') is a 1935 Soviet drama film by Ukrainian director Oleksandr Dovzhenko, a coproduction between Mosfilm and VUFKU. It is an adventure story set in the Sovie ...

'' (1935); directed by

Alexander Dovzhenko Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko or Alexander Petrovich Dovzhenko ( uk, Олександр Петрович Довженко, ''Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko''; russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Довже́нко, ''Aleksandr Petro ...

*''

¡Que viva México! ''¡Que viva México!'' (, ; russian: Да здравствует Мексика!, Da zdravstvuyet Meksika!) is a film project begun in 1930 by the Russian avant-garde director Sergei Eisenstein (1898–1948) under contract to socialist author Upt ...

'' (1937); directed by

*''

Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand ...

'' (1938); directed by

*''

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Iv ...

'' (1944–46); directed by

*''

The Immortal Garrison ''The Immortal Garrison'' (russian: Бессмертный гарнизон, ') is a 1956 Soviet war film directed by Zakhar Agranenko and Eduard Tisse. Plot summary This film depicts the siege of the Brest Fortress during the period of June 2 ...

''; 1956

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tisse, Eduard 1897 births 1961 deaths People from Liepāja People from Courland Governorate Russian people of Estonian descent Russian people of Swedish descent Soviet cinematographers Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography faculty Latvian cinematographers