page_title: Fred Stein
section_title: Paris
hierarchical_section_title: Fred Stein / Life / Paris
caption_attribution_description: English: Affidavit in Lieu of an American passport for Alfred Stein and his wife. Issued in April 1941 at the US consulate in Marseilles, France. This document was crucial for the Steins to board a steamer to New York. Deutsch: Vorläufiger amerikanischer Pass für Alfred Stein und seine Frau. Ausgestellt im April 1941 am Konsulat der Vereinigten Staaten in Marseilles, Frankreich. Dieses Dokument war entscheidend dafür, dass die Steins den Frankreich okkupierenden Nationalsozialisten entkommen konnten. Sie setzten sich in die USA ab.
context_page_description: Fred Stein was a street photographer in Paris and New York after he was forced to flee his native Germany by the Nazi threat in the early 1930s. He explored the new creative possibilities of photography, capturing spontaneous scenes from life on the street. He was also a portraitist, photographing many of the great personalities of the 20th century.
context_section_description: Paris in the 1930s was a vital art scene. Emigres from all over Europe were drawn there, with new ideas influenced by the new "Modernism". Artists drew upon the zeitgeist and upon each other's work, producing a wave of inspired vision. Stein and his wife Lilo lived among a circle of expatriate artists and socialists and philosophers, frequenting the cafes and engaging in long conversation. The Steins were some of the lucky few with an apartment, and there they sheltered refugees and cooked huge meals to feed their friends. Robert Capa's companion Gerda Taro, had a room in their apartment. And a frequent visitor was Willy Brandt, who later (in 1969) became Chancellor of Germany.
  Unable to work as a lawyer, Stein took up photography using the first model Leica camera he and his wife had bought each other as a wedding present. He began to explore the streets of Paris, looking and learning. It quickly developed into a passion: shooting every day, and studying whatever photo books he could find at night.
caption: Stein's Affidavit in Lieu of an American Passport, 1941
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