Hy Hirsh

Hyman Hirsh (October 11, 1911, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – November 1961, Paris, France), was an American photographer and experimental filmmaker. He is regarded as a visual music filmmaker,

Life and career Hy Hirsh was born in 1911 to Russian immigrants Max and Olga Hirsh. The family moved to Southern California in 1916 where Hy Hirsh developed an interest in filmmaking and photography. At age 19 he began working in Hollywood and was employed by Columbia Studios from 1930 to 1936 as a cameraman and still photographer. He began side work as an art photographer in 1932 and had his first solo exhibition in 1935.

In 1936 Hirsh was employed as a photographer by President Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, and in 1937 he turned to avant-garde cinema, playing a comic role in the satirical experimental film, Even—As You And I. In 1937, Hirsh moved to San Francisco where he became the official photographer for both the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, where he photographed artwork, processed film and made prints. He also discreetly used the museum's darkroom for his own artistic pursuits until he left the museum in 1954. His love of music became so intertwined with his filmmaking that it is now regarded as visual music.

Selected filmography

Solo works

Divertissement Rococo, 1951 Eneri, 1953 Come Closer, stereoscopic, 1953 Gyromorphosis, 1954 Autumn Spectrum, 1957 Défense d'afficher ("Post No Bills"), 1958 Chasse des Touches 1959 Scratch Pad, 1961 (18fps with sound) La Couleur de la forme, 1961 (non-original music added, original soundtrack unknown) Etude Anatomique du Photographe, 1961 (presumed lost)

Décollages recollés, 1960, unfinished, was not listed in Hirsh's CV of completed films, but exists in its unfinished state as a double, two projector film, 16mm, silent.

Collaborations Even—As You And I (1937) with Roger Barlow, Harry Hay and LeRoy Robbins The Cage (1947) with Sidney Peterson Horror Dream (1947) with Sidney Peterson Clinic of Stumble (1948) with Sidney Peterson Film No. 4 (1948) with Harry Smith The Lead Shoes (1949) with Sidney Peterson Notes on the Port of St. Francis (1951) co-produced with director Frank Stauffacher