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Three Lions Inc.

  • Little is known about this photo agency, which was founded by two German émigré brothers, Max Georg and Walter Löwenherz in 1937 in New York
  • Three Lions Inc.
  • Photo Agency
  • Little is known about this photo agency, which was founded by two German émigré brothers, Max Georg and Walter Löwenherz in 1937 in New York

    Word Count: 25

  • Max and Walter Löwenherz fled Germany in the 1930s to join their brother Heinz in Amsterdam, where he had a photo agency. It is not known if Max and Walter already had a picture agency in Germany. Max and Walter then succeeded in emigrating to New York, while Heinz and his family were arrested when the Netherlands were invaded by German troops and died in a concentration camp. The name of the photo agency, “Three Lions”, is in honour of the three brothers and a reference to their surname Löwenherz, which means lionheart.

    Among the émigré photojournalists represented by the agency were Kurt Severin (who made a portrait series of Stefan Zweig in New York and was also a freelancer with Black Star Agency), Stefan Lorant and Germain Kellerman.
    Sensitive about their own Jewish backgrounds and experiences of anti-semitism, the agency's proprietors advised émigré photographers to Americanise their surnames. Among those who followed this advice was Jack Mendelsohn (1920-2001), born the son of Romanian emigrants on the Lower East Side, who changed his name to Jack Manning. Trained at the Photo League, Manning sold his work to the Black Star Agency as well as to Three Lions.
    Photo credits to be found in several issues of Life magazine attest to the fact that Three Lions provided an international network to photographers from all over the world. Among these were German émigré Hugo Brehme in Mexico City (Life, 17 April, 1944) and Christian Straub in Vienna (Popular Photography, February 1981, p. 35). Under the slogan "Our cover pictures are known everywhere” (Art Direction, vol. 19, 1967, p. 117) the agency's pictures appeared in advertisements.
    Located at 545 5th Avenue, the agency was close to Grand Central Station and to other photo agencies founded by German émigrés, such as Rapho Guillemette, PIX Inc., Camera Feature, Photo Representatives, Monkemayer, European Picture Service and photo labs (Leco Photo Service, Service Photo Suppliers, Modernage, Spiratone, Pavelle Laboratories) and the headquarters of several magazines (Life, Look, Popular Photography, Graphic House).

    Word Count: 329

  • 545 5th Avenue, Midtown Manhattan, New York City.

  • Logo of Three Lions Inc. (© Center for Creative Photography, Marion Palfi Archive, AG 46:1A).
  • Mention of Three Lions in a photographic guide (Ahlers, Arvel W.. Where & how to sell your pictures. Photography Publishing Corp., 1953, p. 46).
    Job advertisement of Three Lions published in Aufbau magazine, 1. September 1939, no. 16, p. 26 (Photo: Helene Roth).
    Advertisement of Three Lions (Billboard, 11 February 1967, p. 37).
  • Ahlers, Arvel W. Where & how to sell your pictures. Photography Publishing Corp., 1953.

    Bouqueret, Christian. Des années folles. Aux années noires. La nouvelle vision photographique en France 1920–1940. Marval, 1997.

    Gilbert, George. The Illustrated Worldwide Who’s Who of Jews in Photography. G. Gilbert, 1996.

    Morgan, Willard D., editor. The Encyclopedia of Photography: The complete photographer. The comprehensive guide and reference for all photographers. Greystone, 1963–1964.

    Word Count: 64

  • Helene Roth
  • 1937
  • Hugo Brehme, Jack Manning, Kurt Severin, Christian Straub.

  • New York
  • No
  • Helene Roth. "Three Lions Inc.." METROMOD Archive, 2021, https://archive.metromod.net/viewer.p/69/2948/object/5145-10783112, last modified: 13-10-2022.
  • Black Star Agency
    Photo Agency
    New York

    The German émigrés Kurt S(z)afranski, Ern(e)st Mayer and Kurt Kornfeld founded Black Star in 1936. The photo agency established was a well-run networking institution in New York.

    Word Count: 31

    PIX Publishing Inc.
    Photo Agency
    New York

    PIX Publishing Inc. was a photo agency founded in New York in 1935 by photo agent Leon Daniel and Celia Kutschuk, together with German émigré photographers Alfred Eisenstaedt and George Karger.

    Word Count: 30

    Leco Photo Service
    Photo Lab
    New York

    Leco Photo Service was a photofinishing lab, highly-frequented and a contact hub for émigré photographers and photo agencies during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as a provider of employment for women in the photo industry.

    Word Count: 36

    Rapho Guillumette
    Photo Agency
    New York

    Founded in 1940 by the emigrant Charles Rado (1899–1970), Rapho Guillumette was a picture agency.

    Word Count: 13

    Photo-Representatives
    Photo Agency
    New York

    Photo-Representatives was a photo agency founded by the photographers Erika Stone and Anita Beer in 1953.

    Word Count: 15

    Pavelle Laboratories Inc.
    Photo LabPhoto Supplier
    New York

    Pavelle Laboratories was found in 1936 by Leo and Carmen Pavelle and operated on East 42nd Street. It was specialised in the development of miniature camera film and one of the first labs working with colour film.

    Word Count: 36

    Monkmeyer Photo Service
    Photo Agency
    New York

    The Monkmeyer Photo Service photo agency was founded around 1935/36 by the German émigrés Hilde and Paul August Monkmeyer in New York City.

    Word Count: 23

    Camera Features
    Photo Agency
    New York

    Camera Features was a photo agency founded by the photographer Werner Wolff and other colleagues of the photo agency PIX.

    Word Count: 20

    European Picture Service
    Photo Agency
    New York

    The European Picture Service was a photo agency located in Midtown Manhattan founded, probably in 1930, by the émigré photographer Max Peter Haas (1901–1985).

    Word Count: 22

    Modernage Photographic Services Inc
    Photo Lab
    New York

    Modernage Photographic Services was founded in 1944 by the German émigrés Ralph and Leuba Baum and specialised in photofinishing services. In 1954 a second branch, Modernage Custom Darkrooms, was opened.

    Word Count: 29

    Service Photo Suppliers Inc.
    Photo Supplier
    New York

    Service Photo Suppliers was a photo supplier distributing a wide variety of photo equipment and opened by the German émigré Hans Salomon (1909–?) in 1945.

    Word Count: 23

    Spiratone
    Photo Supplier
    New York

    Spiratone was a photo company and photo supplier founded in 1941 by the Austrian émigré family Hans (1888–1944) and Paula Spira (?–?) and their son Fred Spira (1924–2007).

    Word Count: 24