Elisabeth Meyer (1899 – 1968) was a Norwegian

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

and journalist who is best known for her photo-journalistic work from travels through

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in the 1920s and 1930s, among them early photographs of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. Meyer traveled through Iran on her own and may have been the first Western woman to travel through Iran in this way. There was a total ban on photographing in Iran at the time and she was arrested several times, but released with a warning. In Turkey she visited

Kemal Atatürk Kemal may refer to: ;People * Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a Turkish politician and the first president of Turkey * Kemal (name), a common Turkish name ;Places * Kemalpaşa, İzmir Province, Turkey * Mustafakemalpaşa, Bursa Province, Turkey ;See also ...

in his private residence and his bedroom covered in pink silk. In Irak she interviewed king Faisal in his "palais just outside Baghdad". In India the young Indira Nehru helped Meyer visit the imprisoned Mahatma Gandhi, and she described the meeting like this: «Any other man would appear ridiculous in that outfit, but with regard to Gandhi all criticism is silenced. I was never particularly enthusiastic about Gandhi, but now I am completely converted. He is one of the most sympathetic humans I have ever met, he is truly a great man.» Meyer also visited Syria, Mexico and Alaska. Meyer was born in Tønsberg to an affluent family. Her father gave her a

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

folding camera A folding camera is a camera type. Folding cameras fold into a compact and rugged package for storage. The lens and shutter are attached to a lens-board which is connected to the body of the camera by a light-tight folding bellows. When the c ...

for her travels, which seems to have led to her professional choice later. She joined the

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Camera Club in 1932, and then traveled to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 1937 to study photography at the

Reimann School The Reimann School of Art and Design was a private art school which was founded in Berlin in 1902 by Albert Reimann, and re-established in Regency Street, Pimlico, London in January 1937 after persecution by the Nazis. It was the first commercia ...

, where she studied with

Walter Peterhans Walter Peterhans (12 June 1897 – 12 April 1960) was a German photographer best known as a teacher and course leader of photography at the Bauhaus from 1929 until 1933, and at the Reimann School in Berlin under Hugo Häring. In the 1930s Peterh ...

and Otto Croy. She worked as an apprentice for Joszef Pécsi in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

before returning to Norway, where she spent the war years. Meyer produced material for various publications including National Geographic Magazine and

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

Gallery

File:06 For å drive onde ånder på flukt oppfører folk i Sikkim og Tibet noen merkelige danser med fargerike masker..jpg, Sikkim, Tibet, 1932 (photo

Preus Museum Preus Museum is the national museum for photography located in Horten, Norway. Preus Museum was founded in 1976 by Leif Preus and the members of the Preus family as a private museum. The collection was acquired by the Norwegian government in 199 ...

) File:Mattis Johansen Pentha har i ca. 60 år loset posten fram over Finnmarksvidda i kamp mot storm og varg..jpg, Postal guide Mattis Johansen Pentha, Norway (photo Preus Museum)

Gallery

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Further reading