About This Image

Signed and dated in ink, mount recto. Studio stamp, verso.

Ryszard Horowitz (born May 5, 1939) is a Polish-born American photographer recognized as a pioneer of special effects photography that predates digital imaging.

Horowitz was born in Kraków, Poland on May 5, 1939. Four months later, because they were Jewish, Ryszard's entire family was forced into ghettos following the German invasion of Poland. From September 1944, he was imprisoned at the Auschwitz concentration camp and later became known as one of the youngest known people to survive Auschwitz and be included on Schindler's list. At war's end, five-year old Ryszard was found in an orphanage by his mother and reunited with his family. His was among the few Jewish families to re-establish themselves in Krakow.

Horowitz began taking pictures at the age of 14. For a brief period, he grew up alongside Roman Polański, with whom he created his first photographic enlarger from cardboard.

Horowitz immigrated to the United States in 1959 and enrolled at New York's Pratt Institute in its commercial and advertising graphic design department. There he worked with his mentors, Richard Avedon and Alexey Brodovitch. Horowitz took part in weekly seminars led by Brodovitch and worked as an assistant for Avedon in 1963, including at his famous portrait session with Salvador Dalí.

After graduating from Pratt in 1962, Horowitz began working in film and television and graphic design companies, including a stint as Art Director for Grey Advertising.

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