I grew up in a house full of books and music to parents who survived Auschwitz and settled in small town Alabama. My father, a child prodigy who played with The Warsaw Philharmonic at the age of nine, pushed me to explore the arts with a curiosity born from generations of rigrorous intellectual and artistic pursuits. After five years as a staff photographer with The Smithsonian and a career-altering week at The University of Missouri photojournalism workshop in 1978 I opened a studio in Washington shooting for a range of advertising, design and editorial clients.
In 1993 I accompanied my mother on her first return to Poland in forty-six years and photographed her attempt at closure. This rare gift gave me a fresh appreciation for the power of photography and added a new dimension to my work: respect for the great traditions of documentary photography wedded to a love of humanity. Years of practice in the analog world is now meshed with a loving embrace of digital technologies and keeps me thrilled to be shooting what I love.
SUPPORT
AtEdge
Gallery Stock
One Eyeland
Redux Pictures
AWARDS
American Photography 2006, 2009
B+W Spider Awards 2011, 2015, 2016
Creative Quarterly 23, 36, 42
Communication Arts Photo Annual 2002, 2013
GRAPHIS Photo Annual 2015
PDN Photo Annual 2002, 2004
PhotoLucida—Critical Mass 2008
PX3—Prix de la Photographie Paris 2011, 2014
ARTICLES
Leica Blog
PDN How I Got That Shot
This Is The What
Washington Post — The Viewer's In The Picture Too / 2008
EYEMAZING — One Shot / 2006
CONTACT
Max Hirshfeld max@maxpix.com
202.363.4660
202.262.1515
Nina Mason / Producer nina@maxpix.com
202.363.4660
202.262.1411