declinedLifemagazine’s offer and joined Magnum.
This introduced him to other great photographers of
the time such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, from whom
he learnt about ‘‘the decisive moment’’ and how to
use his discerning eye to build up, then break down
the compositional elements in his photographs. Wer-
ner Bischoff, who became a great friend, also con-
tributed to Haas’s growing interest in humanistic
work. In a letter to Wilson Hicks, the magazine’s
picture editor, Haas explains his decision not to join
Life’s staff: ‘‘There are two kinds of photographers,
the ones who take pictures for a magazine, and the
ones who gain something by taking pictures they are
interested in. I am the second kind.’’
This was an ethos that would remain prominent
in Haas’s work throughout his career. It would also
be intrinsic to his best work including his visceral
colour photography of New York, Paris, and
Venice as well as his groundbreaking work in
‘‘motion’’ photography. His early New York photo-
graphy was published on 24 pages over two issues of
Life, an unprecedented use of colour photography.
His ‘‘motion’’ work of bullfights in Spain in the
1950s was also highly acclaimed as a new way of
seeing. Haas described his intentions in a statement
prepared for his 1962 exhibition at the Museum of
Modern Art, New York, the first solo exhibition of
colour photographs in the museum’s history:
To express dynamic motion through a static moment
became for me limited and unsatisfactory. The basic
idea was to liberate myself from this old concept and
arrive at an image in which the spectator could feel the
beauty of the fourth dimension which lies much more
between moments than within a moment.Haas visited the United States for the first time
on photojournalism assignments forVogue,Life,
Paris-Match, and theNew York Times Magazine,
among others, in 1951.Lifepublished the ground-
breaking color photoessay ‘‘Images of a Magic
City,’’ that chronicled Haas’s observations of
New York City in 1953; Haas had been spending
more and more time in the United States, traveling
in the Southwest photographing his ‘‘Land of
Enchantment’’ photoessay and serving as the Ame-
rican Vice-President of Magnum. He moved per-
manently to New York in 1965. His career
continued to build on its already considerable suc-
cess. Haas was in demand by large corporations
and teaching organisations alike. In typically para-
doxical manner he managed to maintain both areas
to the highest levels of quality. He shot for corpora-
tions such as Ford, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Leica,
and Mobil Oil in addition to being one of three
photographers to photograph the ‘‘Marlboro Man’’
advertising campaigns from the early 1970s–1980s.
He became involved in Hollywood films, including
‘‘The Misfits’’ and ‘‘West Side Story.’’ He also
began to run workshops and seminars on photo-
graphy. In the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, he
increasingly used audio-visual equipment to dis-
play his work in new ways. Instead of using a single
slide projector he would use two projectors dissol-
ving images into each other to a background of
music. Once again he delighted in the paradox he
provoked from his audience—some spellbound and
others unable to watch it all. Having been involved
with a four-part PBS television series on photogra-
phy in 1962, he became involved in directing work-
shops at the Maine Photographic Workshops in
the early 1970s.
Ernst Haas’s photographs were also published in
book form, includingCreation, which sold over
250,000 copies, a photographic representation of
the creation of the world inspired by his involve-
ment as second director on the film ‘‘The Bible.’’
Other books includedIn Germany,In America, and
Himalayan Pilgrimage, a highly spiritual and perso-
nal photographic account of the Himalayan region.
There are few places or subjects that Haas did
not photograph in his lifetime, from America to
Japan, from portraits to landscapes. He always
photographed according to his own style and con-
victions, always experimenting, much imitated but
never imitating others. He was among the first of
his generation to stride down the path of colour
photography, transforming what he saw to chal-
lenge his audience, a path since followed by count-
less others. Following Haas’s death from a stroke
in 1986, the American Society of Magazine Photo-
graphers established the annual Ernst Haas Award
for Creative Photography and the Maine Photo-
graphic Workshops begins the Ernst Haas Photo-
graphic Grant, funded by Kodak. The Ernst Haas
Memorial Collection was established at the Port-
land Museum of Art in Portland, Maine in 1999.
JAMESCharnock
SeeAlso:Bischoff, Werner; Capa, Robert; Life
Magazine; Magnum Photos; ‘‘The Decisive
Moment’’Biography
Born in Vienna, Austria, 2 March 1921. Studies medicine,
transfers to Graphic Arts Institute but is forced to leave
before finishing either course due to his Jewish ancestry,
1940–1941. Works part-time in a photographic studio,
begins experimenting with abstract photography, teaches
basic photography courses at the Red Cross, 1943–1945.
‘‘Returning Prisoners of War’’ photoessay published inHAAS, ERNST