ABOUT
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 piano with The Warsaw Philharmonic at the age of nine, pushed me to explore the arts with a curiosity born from generations of 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 advertising, design and editorial clients.
In 1993, I escorted 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 in now meshed with a loving embrace of digital technologies and keeps me thrilled to be still shooting.
PUBLICATIONS + AWARDS
2020 American Photography
2020 Communication Arts — Photography Annual
2019 Photo Lucida — Finalist
2017 Creative Quarterly
2016 One Eyeland — Best of the Best
2016 B+W Spider Awards
2015 B+W Spider Awards
2015 Graphis — Photography Annual
2014 PX3 — Prix de la Photographie
2013 Communication Arts — Photography Annual
2012 Photo District News — How I Got That Shot
2011 B+W Spider Awards
2011 PX3 — Prix de la Photographie
2006 Eyemazing — One Shot
2004 Photo District News — Photography Annual
2002 Photo District News — Photography Annual
2000 Communication Arts — Photography Annual
BOOKS
Sweet Noise: Love in Wartime
All work © Max Hirshfeld 2020
All rights reserved