Zoltán Glass (26 April 1903 – 24 February 1982) was a Hungarian photographer. He was one of the renowned photographers of the 20th century.
Early life
Zoltán Glass, who was known to his friends as “Zolly”, was born 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 ...
,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
on April 26, 1903. Following in his elder brother’s footsteps, he began his career as an artist and caricaturist. However, he struggled to make ends meet and took various other jobs to supplement his income, including docker, night watchman, photographic retoucher, and stage designer.
Early career
In 1925, Zoltán moved to
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, Germany, where, like his brother
Stephen Glass
Stephen Randall Glass (born September 15, 1972) is an American paralegal who previously worked as a journalist for ''The New Republic'' from 1995 to 1998, until it was revealed that many of his published articles were fabrications. An internal i ...
, he established himself as a picture editor at an evening newspaper. He then became a photojournalist at the ''Berliner Tagblatt''. A keen motorsports enthusiast and amateur racer, Zoltán covered Germany’s biggest races at the Nürburgring and Avus circuits. In 1930 Zoltán established Reclaphot, a photographic agency that specialised in advertising work, and Autophot, a company dedicated exclusively to automobile photography. His most famous photographs are of the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows team, which dominated Grand Prix racing during the mid-1930s.
Life in London
With the rise of Hitler, business became increasingly difficult in Germany. Zoltán, as his brother did, fled to London, taking his negatives. He was given work by another Jewish refugee, Arthur Spingarn, the owner of Sackville Advertising. However, as an enemy alien at the outbreak of World War II, he was not permitted to pursue his profession as a photographer and faced the threat of internment.
After the war, Zoltán earned a living taking publicity stills for clients in the film and theatre worlds. In 1948, after twelve years as an émigré, he became a naturalised British subject.
By the mid-1950s, he was a successful fashion and advertising photographer in the capital, with a studio at 183 Kings Road, Chelsea, and another at 41 Paradise Walk, SW3.
One of Zoltán’s clients was Odhams Press, which published '' Lilliput'', a celebrated pocket-sized gentleman’s magazine that featured an assortment of titillating articles and risqué humour, together with adventurous photographic essays by such well-known talents as
Bill Brandt
Bill Brandt (born Hermann Wilhelm Brandt; 2 May 1904 – 20 December 1983)Paul DelanyBill Brandt: A Life was a British photographer and photojournalist. Born in Germany, Brandt moved to England, where he became known for his images of British ...
and Brassai. He photographed the British Glamour model Pamela Green for ''Lilliput'' in 1952. He also worked as a stills photographer for film director
Zoltan Korda
Zoltan Korda (June 3, 1895 – October 13, 1961) was a Hungarian-born motion picture screenwriter, director and producer. He made his first film in Hungary in 1918, and worked with his brother Alexander Korda on film-making there and in London ...
, brother of
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956) He offered his collection of pin-up photography to glamour photographer
Harrison Marks
George Harrison Marks (6 August 1926 – 27 June 1997) was an English glamour photographer and director of nudist, and later, pornographic films.
Personal life
Born in Tottenham, Middlesex in 1926, Marks was 17 when he married his first wife, ...
who turned it down. Zoltán died in France on February 24, 1981, at the age of 78, leaving neither offspring nor a will. His photographs were eventually given to The National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, Yorkshire.