Motivation Monday - Erich Salomon

Also known as the Houdini of Photography and the Invisible Cameraman, Erich Salomon (1886-1944) was a master as candid photography. He was known for his candid photographs of diplomatic and legal professions as well as the innovative methods he used to capture them. You know how in older movies, and cartoons, people place a camera in a bowler hat with a hole in it and take pictures of 'off-limits' places - that was Salomon's idea. In 1927, he placed a camera capable of working in dim lighting in his bowler hat and photographed a police killer on trial in a Berlin court.

Salomon's reputation soared throughout Europe and he was able to photograph many situations normally unseen as diplomats were convinced that photojournalism was part of historical record. Salomon was one of only two people who have photographed a session in the US Supreme Court. He also captured the signing of the Kellogg-Briand Pact by taking the vacant seat of the Polish delegate and snapping away.

When Adolf Hitler came into power and the second world war began, Salomon fled to the Netherlands with his wife. When Hitler invaded the lower countries in 1940, Salomon and his family were captured. He spent the next four years in concentration camps and died in July 1944 in Auschwitz.

A prestigious photojournalism award is named in his honour given as a lifetime achievement award by the German Society of Photographers. He was a great inspiration to photojournalism and sparked the photo opportunity.