Ein Ghetto im Osten Wilna by Moshe Vorobeichic & S. Chnéour Photography

moshe vorobeichic, s. chnéour:
ein ghetto im osten – wilna
orell füssli verlag, zürich/leipzig (schaubücher 27), 1931
size: 19 x 13 cm
photographer: moi ver designer : (unknown)

M. Vorobeichic, who also used the artist name Moi Ver, and whose real name was Moses Vorobeichic (1904), in Israel renamed Moshe Raviv. This painter/photographer is known for his picture-books on the Ghetto of Wilna and Paris (end of the twenties), early examples of the Bauhaus photographic style. (German) From the Preface The Jewish Lane in Light and Shadow by S. Chneour
About Paris : 'The book that introduced Moi Ver to the world is exhilaratingly eccentric, definitely avant-garde.... Moi Ver's Paris is a city in motion, hurtling almost out of control. Cobblestone streets, bustling crowds, facades, railway tracks, bridges. the glittering river, and countless monuments shift and shatter here.... Moi Ver's version of Paris was eclipsed two years later by the publication of Brassai's more conventionally seductive Paris de Nuit, but no one has yet matched Moi Ver's vision of the brutal, chaotic, irresistible modern city.'-Vince Aletti, from the Book of 101 Books

In Paris, his quintessential avant-garde book, Moi Ver succeeded in blending dynamic photographic montage with elaborate graphic layouts. Utilizing the double-spread as one unified place, each turn of the page not only surprised but accentuated the charged rhythm built into the book itself. The bulk of information in these pictures documents mundane street activities in the cobblestone-covered Paris of the late 20s. But the method in which Moi Ver chose to present his material, in its kaliedoscopic layering and frenzied repetitiveness, emphasized an experiential approach to picture construction-as if we, the viewers, were walking about, bombarded by noise and reflected light. Originally published in 1931 by Editions Jeanne Walter with an introduction by Futurist Fernand Leger, now long out of print and exceptionally rare, this facsimile reproduction of Paris brings back into circulation one of the seminal photographic books of the century. See for the slideshow ...

another example of orell füssli's "schaubücher" (sb), a series of photo books with laminated board covers in a standardised new typography design, see also books 95, 173 or 96.

sb edition number 27 is a standout and the most sought after: it is a photo documentation of the jewish ghetto of vilnius, the lithuanian city which is called "wilna" in german.

the introduction was written by zalman shneour (1887-1959), a jewish (yiddish) writer who lived in vilnius and later in paris.

the book is famous for its photos by moshe raviv-vorobeichic (1904-1995), better known as moi ver.

moi ver had studied at the bauhaus in dessau, and later worked in paris before finally settling in palestine.

the experimental photos and photomontages reveal a bauhaus influence.

a unique feauture of this "schaubuch": ...

... the whole book is bilingual, ...

... german and hebrew!

the hebrew version starts at the "back".

a stunning book about a fascinating world which was wiped out by the nazis in ww2.

See for more book design stories ...