The trailer for a documentary about the photographer Roman Vishinac — who is best known for documenting Jewish life in Eastern Europe in the years prior to World War II — has been released.

The film, titled Vishinac, tells the story of the Russian-American photographer’s life: describing him as “difficult and flamboyant, a shameless self-promoter, bender of the truth, and master of reinvention.”

From 1935 to 1938, Vishinac traveled Europe with an assignment to capture Jewish life. His black-and-white photographs are an invaluable record of Jewish ghettos in Eastern Europe. From his base in Berlin, Vishinac traveled to Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Lithuania where he would pose as a traveling fabric salesman.

Vishinac was frequently arrested during his photography missions, authorities believed he was a spy and he would often have to bribe himself out of sticky situations.

He was politically aware: conscious of the growing anti-Semitism emanating from the Nazis, he snuck into an internment camp in Germany where Jews were awaiting deportation and took photographs of the “filthy barracks.” The photos were sent to the League of Nations to show how Jews were being treated under Adolf Hitler.

His 1983 book A Vanished World made him famous because of his brave work in the 1930s documenting Jewish culture in Eastern Europe that was wiped out just years later.

Vishinac was born in 1897 in St. Petersburg but had to flee Russia in 1918 after the Bolshevik revolution led to anti-Semitism. It wouldn’t be the first time he left a country because of such hatred: in 1940 he had a very lucky escape from Berlin and arrived in New York. In the States, he followed his second passion of microscopy — making considerable contributions. He also took a 1942 portrait of Albert Einstein which the theoretical physicist apparently called “his favorite.”

Vishinac contains more than 16,000 images from the Vishinac archive to build a full picture of the photographer’s life.

“Through his images, the film exposes new audiences to a lost world that is quickly fading from our grasp,” writes the film’s synopsis.

It is narrated by Vishinac’s daughter Mara Kohn who apparently holds her father to account, acknowledging his complexities and calling him out for occasionally being an unreliable narrator of his own life story.

Vishinac is showing at various film festivals throughout the United States in 2024. Listings can be found here.

Image credits: Wikimedia Commons.

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A photograph created by Alisha Anderson of Alisha Anderson Design in Ada has recently been accepted as a finalist in the Professional Photographers of America’s 2024 International Photographic Competition.

Anderson’s work, titled “Inquisitive Loyalty”, is one of the 32 images in the Pet Portraiture category that will move on as a finalist in the upcoming photo competition at Imaging USA in Louisville, KY.—January 28-30, 2024. Imaging USA is one of the largest annual conventions and expos internationally for professional photographers.

“Inquisitive Loyalty” by Anderson will be on display at the International Photographic Exhibition alongside other top photographic works from the competition.

About PPA: Founded in 1868, Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is the largest and longest-standing nonprofit photography trade association in the United States. It currently helps 35,000 professionals elevate their craft and grow their business with resources, protection, and education, all under PPA’s core guiding principle of bridging the gap between photographers and consumers.

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Make-up has always been about enhancing one’s appearance. But now, with so much of our lives spent online, that enhancement is geared towards improving how we look in an image. A photographer then, makes the ideal make-up expert, as they understand what is needed for the camera to effectively capture real-life beauty.

Celebrity and fashion photographer Davis Factor never set out to create makeup. But as the great-grandson of Max Factor—known as the ‘father of make-up’ for his role in creating make-up for movie stars in the early days of cinema—you could argue it’s in his DNA. Growing up on photoshoots, naturally he became a fashion photographer himself and quickly found himself shooting in the company of influential fashion photographers like Annie Lebovitz. When he noticed makeup was a common sticking point at photoshoots, he started creating products, eventually becoming the first to invent primer. Six years after creating Smashbox Studios in 1990, Smashbox Cosmetics was born.

A lot has changed in the near-three decades since, but Factor believes the idea of make-up and Smashbox Cosmetics have always remained the same. In the following interview, the creative visionary traces the evolution of make-up over the past century up to the present day, and beyond.

Anna Haines: When did you first become interested in makeup?

Davis Factor: My interest in makeup started when my mom would take me to the photoshoots for Factor Cosmetics when I was as young as six-years-old.

Also my family’s business was in the Max Factor building with this bright blue neon sign. That was cool to me because I could see Factor everywhere, it made me feel that my family was important. I would go up into the offices and see my dad, my uncles, it was a family business, so from an early age I was exposed to it.

Going into the photoshoots when I was young exposed me to photography and makeup in a different way than I ever imagined. That planted the seed for me to become a photographer.

Haines: Was all that time spent in photoshoots why you chose to become specifically a fashion photographer?

Factor: When I would go to the photo studios, I would see models walk in with no makeup and be transformed into these incredible creatures. That idea of transformation really stuck in my head. I thought the talent was so pretty and beautiful, I just loved it. I picked up a camera at a very early age. [Laughs] I remember my punishment when I was young was that I couldn’t go to the salon and see the photoshoots.

As I got older, I started to understand makeup more. When I got into high school I got a bunch of makeup from the family and I would bring subjects to the house and use the makeup on them myself. I was so fired up about it. It was just an organic hobby I had because I was around it.

Haines: What was shooting fashion photography like in the 1990s?

Factor: I graduated from the Art Center College of Design in the early 80s but I started working as a photographer before I graduated school. A lot of my shoots were in New York, shooting celebrities. But back in Los Angeles, that energy wasn’t there. You’d have to borrow a studio and figure out everything yourself.

The idea struck me when I was talking to my mom about it. She turned me onto a space in Santa Monica, an old boat warehouse, it was all windows and bright inside. I got the idea of starting a rental photo studio like they had in New York. My brother Dean was studying business at USC. He liked the idea of starting a business together. We created this one space that we were able to rent out that had everything—equipment, food, music—it blew up from day one. Our first shoots were Annie Lebovitz, Helmut Newton, Fabrizio Ferry. A year into it, we opened another studio and created Smashbox Studios.

In New York, you’d walk into the studios and you’d feel like you were at a party you weren’t invited to. I wanted a “hello, welcome, here’s some cupcakes,” I wanted a warm-and-fuzzy feeling and I hired people who made it that way. It’s a family business, so it became very friendly and customer-oriented. It was fun that way. I will always remember the 20 years of this exciting era of photography.

Haines: So when did Smashbox Cosmetics come into the picture?

Factor: The makeup brand started because I was frustrated with makeup on shoots. One thing that really bothered me all the powder flying around. They were always bringing models to the back of the room to fix something—the makeup would crease and the skin would dry. It would ruin the flow of the work.

I realized I was spending more time in the makeup room than shooting. I thought, ‘there has to be a way to fix this.’ I was using the best artists in the world so it wasn’t about the artistry, it was about the makeup. So I started spending more time in the makeup room observing. I noticed a lot was going on with the skin before foundation went on. I started to think, ‘I need to make makeup that’s going to fix these issues.’ So I did, just using common sense.

Haines: What inspired you to create primer?

Factor: When you paint something, you put primer on before anything—you put primer on cars, houses, boats—to make the paint do its thing. I thought, ‘let’s fix the skin before putting makeup on so we can create a barrier between makeup and the skin.’ So we created a photo-finish primer. I noticed when I used it and put makeup on afterwards I was able to create even skin tone, fill in fine lines, it was creating a soft, beautiful layer between the foundation and the skin. The primer just worked from day one. It created this velvety glide that set really nicely.

I noticed a difference in the photographs because this was before digital photography. So I would have to take the picture, make a print, then retouch the actual print. When I would see the photograph before retouching you could see every problem on the skin. I started analyzing, circling things, bringing it to the lab saying, ‘we need to fix this.’ I noticed with the primer, I wasn’t seeing through the foundation anymore. I was retouching was much less. It really worked.

I started coming out with different primers that did different things: color correcting, oil-free, I think we had 13 primers at one time. I also noticed eye shadows were creasing so I created an eyeshadow that wouldn’t crease. I noticed a lot of moisture when it was warm out. I wanted to create something that would keep you dry and smooth so I came out with the anti-shine foundation and it worked with a range of skin tones. We kept inventing.

Haines: Artificial Intelligence has created major advancements in post-production technologies and now everyone can apply a full face of makeup using a filter on their phone. Do you think these technological advancements have changed our relationship to makeup?

Factor: No. There’s a difference between creating an AI image and going outside and living your life. You still need makeup to leave your house. Everyone’s their own creator, artist and photographer at the same time now but I don’t think that’s going to change how people look when they leave the house because you can’t have an AI image of your face following you around everywhere you go. But I do think is it’s opened up people up to the possibilities of makeup. Technology is an amazing thing, you can’t stop it. AI is one of those things if it’s used in the proper way can be used to make amazing images. I think it opens people’s minds and hearts to what’s possible.

Haines: How has Smashbox adapted to shifts in technology and the corresponding shifts in people’s makeup needs?

Factor: We’ve always stayed the same. We continue to innovate and make products the way we do. The idea is that we create makeup that’s going to make you look amazing in a photo, at work, that’s going to last, look good and the quality is a ten.

I don’t think AI is going to change make-up but I will say, when high-definition came out, we were able to respond with products that give the skin a photo-ready finish. It worked because I was in the studio every day trying to create a blend-able foundation that was thinner so that when you see the images, you wouldn’t see the foundation when the high-def made everything visible.

We were really far ahead of the curve. Which is like what my grandfather did when he invented eyeshadow, mascara, lipstick, water-proof. It was all created for the movie pictures when there was no makeup. It was all to make you look great in the movies. When color television came in, he was on the board to create the looks so you didn’t look green like the T.V. did. He was color-correcting to make you look great.

With the advancements in technology, we’re always on the pulse. When a new technology comes out, we’re ten steps ahead.

Haines: What does the future of makeup look like to you?

Factor: I have this dream, you put your face into this mould and you pull your face out and you have a whole face of makeup on. My brains always thinking; our brains are always thinking internally about what we can we make that’s going to be life-changing.

I’m always thinking about what’s going to help your body, regenerate your skin without being harsh.

Makeup has never changed since makeup started. My grandfather commercialized makeup and sold it to the world in the 30s and 40s. The idea of makeup hasn’t changed at all; not one bit. The technology and brands have changed but I don’t see anything changing except for the demand for better quality ingredients.

The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

During the recent holiday downtime from my full-time photography business, I decided to offer short and sweet photography sessions in the studio for dogs. We booked up straight away, and our subjects ranged in age from 12 weeks to 14 years!

I scheduled 15-minute sessions and named them “15 Minutes of Fame,” with thanks to Andy Warhol.

I hope these images bring some joy to your day.

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