Patima

Portraits, second prize singles

1/12/1972

A woman from Untsukul in the Republic of Dagestan. Boris Kaufman had been sent to Dagestan by his agency RIA Novosti. On the outskirts of Untsukul, a mountain village, he saw an old woman walking away from the village with a crutch. When he got a glimpse of her face, he released the shutter of his camera. When the woman heard the click, she started to threaten him with her crutch and then walked away. Because, at that time, it was not possible to publish pictures of old 'heroes', as she was considered to be, without a name, Kaufman had to invent one: Patima.

Commissioned by: RIA Novosti

 

Photo Credit: Boris Abelevich Kaufman  

Boris Abelevich Kaufman, A.S.C. (August 24, 1906 – June 24, 1980) was a cinematographer. Kaufman was born into a family of Jewish intellectuals in Białystok when Congress Poland was part of the Russian Empire.

After the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Poland regained its independence and Boris moved there with his parents. Kaufman stayed in the Soviet Union and became notable filmmakers, producing avant-garde and agitprop films.

After graduating from the University of Paris Kaufman turned to cinematography. During World War II, he served in the French Army against the Nazis; when France fell, Kaufman escaped to Canada. After working briefly with John Grierson for the National Film Board of Canada, he moved to the United States in 1942.

Kaufman supported himself by filming short subjects and documentaries until director Elia Kazan chose Kaufman to make his American film debut as Director of Photography for On the Waterfront (1954), for which Kaufman won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Black and White) and a 1955 Golden Globe Award. For Baby Doll (1956), he received a second Oscar nomination. Kaufman was director of photography for Sidney Lumet's first film, 12 Angry Men (1957), and The Pawnbroker (1964). Retiring in 1970, he died in New York City in 1980.

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