Sasha Stone (photographer)

Sasha Stone, born Aleksander Steinsapir (December 19, 1895 – August 6, 1940) was a Russian born artist. A stateless photographer, he and his first wife, Cami Stone, were successful photographers during the 1920s and 1930s. One of his most known work is the cover of Walter Benjamin’s book Einbahnstraße (One-Way Street) published in 1928.

Sasha was born as Aleksander Steinsapir to Jewish parents, Natan Steinsapir and Bella Meerson in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Much of his life and career are not associated with Russia. Sasha studied electrical engineering at Warsaw Technical Institute in Poland from 1911 to 1913. In 1913, he immigrated to New York and spent a few years working briefly at the Edison Company in New Jersey. In 1917, Sasha enlisted in the United States Army and was honorably discharged on June 14, 1919. During his military career he served in World War I and was honorably discharged. While in the United States Army he was granted a stay at the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) Art Training Centre in Paris after the war.

After his military discharge, Sasha lived in the Rue de Plantes, Paris and worked as a sculptor. In 1918, Sasha and Cami moved to Berlin together and later married in 1922. When he moved to Berlin, he kept his studio in Rue de Plantes for his cousin Harry Ossip Meerson to use, however Meerson failed to pay rent and was evicted. In Berlin, Sasha was associated with the sculptor Aleksandr Archipenko, and was a contributor to the magazine periodical magazine G-Material für elementare Gestaltung. His work was published in Die Form, Das Kunstblatt, UHU, Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, Der Querschnitt, Gebrauchsgraphik, and Die Dame as well. In 1924, Sasha and Cami, opened their own studio in Berlin, named Atelier Stone, meaning “Studio Stone”.

In 1928, he officially changed his name to Sasha Stone and became a painter. He had little success as an artist. Due to an economic downfall in Europe during this period, Sasha focused on photography as a main source of income. Sasha had become an extremely versatile photographer, working with portraits, journalism, feature images, advertising, property, fashion, and architecture photos. His photos appeared in Adolf Behne’s edition of Berlin in Bildern, and Paul Cohen–Portheim’s travel guide Paris. Sasha took images for surrealist journals like Varietés in Belgium and Bilfur in Paris. His work was presented in the first international photography exhibition called Fotografie der Gegenwart in Essen, Germany and Werkbund’s exhibition Film und Foto in Stuttgart, Germany.

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