Looking Up: Photographer Henri Dauman

The Art Center Highland Park in partnership with The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Arbor Terrace Highland Park is thrilled to be bringing the incredible work of internationally renowned Life Magazine Photographer, Henri Dauman, to our galleries.

Henri’s photography documents some of the most important events and personalities of the 20th Century, from the Kennedys, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Buddhist priests in Vietnam, and the Castro revolution. His images capture the American experience during the ’60s, 70’s and 80’s, producing iconic images for the covers of Time, Life Magazine, and various other publications. What is even more extraordinary about Henri Dauman is how he defied the odds as an American immigrant after surviving the horrors of the Holocaust.

Born in France, Dauman was only 9 when his father was taken by the Nazis to the Auschwitz concentration camp where he died that same year. Dauman and his mother escaped and hid for several years. His mother died when he was 14 leaving him an orphan. At 17, he was invited to New York City by his uncle. “He asked if I wanted to come and live in the United States, and I said, ‘Sure.’ I had been dreaming of New York, seeing it in the movies and photographs. It’s such a photographic city. It’s like a big movie set.”

Henri Dauman’s photographs have been featured in Paris, and in KP Projects Gallery in Los Angeles. A recent exhibition was organized by the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, Susanne Katz curator, Henri Dauman, and KP Projects Gallery.

The Art Center Highland Park’s exhibition will be Henri’s premier exhibition in Illinois and we will be offering community events, including a question and answer with the artist as well as a screening of the documentary about Henri’s life, “Looking Up.” The documentary, produced by his granddaughter, Nicole Suerez, and directed by Peter Kenneth Jones, spans both Henri’s professional life as well as his journey back to France, reconciling the devastating effects of war and discrimination. 

For More Information about Henri’s life and work