Francis Reiss


Francis Reiss was an Australian photographer, born to Danish parents in Hamburg, Germany. He was best known for his work for Picture Post and Life magazines.

Early life

Reiss was born in 1927 in Hamburg, Germany to Danish parents. He began taking photos as a child. The family moved to the United Kingdom in 1936. There he attended Oundle School, and began taking photos.

Career and death

Reiss began working for Picture Post magazine in the UK at the age of 17, the youngest staff photographer employed by them. Picture Post published over 60 picture stories by him.
In 1947, Reiss sailed for New York and immediately started working extensively for LIFE magazine.
In 1950, realising he had gone stale Reiss quit photography, and entered the wool trade.
Not until 1993, ten years after migrating to Australia and receiving a chance commission from James Mollison did he return to photography.
Reiss died on 4 December 2017 at the age of 90.

Collections

His works are held in a number of collections:
His work has been exhibited at a number of galleries in Australia, including one-man shows at:
and in group exhibitions at:
His work has appeared in the following publications: