Learn how the founders of the Black Star photo agency made their indelible imprint on American photojournalism
Phoebe Kornfeld announces publication of 'Passionate Publishers'
NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Phoebe Kornfeld traces the lives of Ernest Mayer, Kurt Safranski, and Kurt Kornfeld, the German Jewish refugee-émigré founders of the Black Star photo agency, who helped ignite a photojournalism revolution in her new biography "Passionate Publishers: The Founders of the Black Star Photo Agency" (published by Archway Publishing).
The author lays the groundwork for understanding how Black Star's founders could so quickly develop their achievements in the field of photojournalism by reconstructing the history of the three men in Germany, including their accomplishments in Berlin's dynamic Weimar era publishing industry. She then describes their journey into exile, the first decade of the photo agency, and the most notable post-World War II experiences of Mayer, Safranski, and Kornfeld.
From family archives and multiple other sources, new information is revealed about the men's international networking, their mentoring of photographers, and a harrowing five years of investigations by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, which believed Black Star's founders to be spies or agents of a foreign government. The author argues that the refugee-émigrés successfully contested the never substantiated allegations on account of their strong views relating to the freedom of the press and the malevolence of discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or national origin.
Kornfeld says her book's "revelations regarding the effect of exile on refugee-emigres, the destructiveness of autocratic regimes, and the importance of protecting the free press in publishing and photojournalism all involve lessons of history that must constantly be remembered in order to move forward toward a more just world."
"Passionate Publishers" is available for purchase online at the Archway link above, from Barnes & Noble and on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Passionate-Publishers-Founders-Black-Agency/dp/1665709065.
"Passionate Publishers"
By Phoebe Kornfeld
Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 514 pages | ISBN 9781665709040
Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 514 pages | ISBN 9781665709064
E-Book | 514 pages | ISBN 9781665709057
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Phoebe Kornfeld is a retired international lawyer and a granddaughter of Black Star cofounder Kurt Kornfeld. She received her undergraduate degree in government and German from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. Her doctorate in political science is from Duke University, and her Juris Doctor is from Duke University School of Law. She subsequently conducted legal research in Berlin supported by a German Chancellor Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Simon & Schuster, a company with nearly ninety years of publishing experience, has teamed up with Author Solutions, LLC, the worldwide leader in self-publishing, to create Archway Publishing. With unique resources to support books of all kind, Archway Publishing offers a specialized approach to help every author reach his or her desired audience. For more information, visit archwaypublishing.com or call 844-669-3957.
Media Contact
Marketing Services, ArchwayPublishing, 844-669-3957, [email protected]
SOURCE Phoebe Kornfeld
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