Shmuel Joseph Schweig – Photo-Album, 1926

Shmuel Joseph Schweig – Photo-Album, 1926
One hundred and thirty two photos by Shmuel Joseph Schweig, pasted to album leaves. The album was presented as a gift to Prof. David Schorr in 1926.
Shmuel Joseph Schweig (1902-1984) – a foremost photographer in Eretz Israel in the 1920s – 30s. Born in Tarnopol, Galicia, studied photography in Vienna. Moved to Eretz Israel in 1922. In 1925 started to work as a photographer for JNF and perpetuated through his camera the development of Eretz Israel and its landscapes. Established a photography studio on HaNevi'im Street in Jerusalem and worked as a photography curator in the Rockefeller Museum. Schweig also specialized in archaeological photography, worked for the Mandate Police and directed the Photography Dept. of the Jewish Agency. The receiver of the album, Prof. David Schorr (1867-1942) – a pianist, composer and music teacher in Russia and in Eretz Israel.
The album opens with a dedication handwritten by Schweig, in German: "Zum Andenken, Mein Lieber Herrn Prof. D. Schorr, von J. Schweig. Jerusalem, den 19.VI.26", with a portrait of Schweig and a folded panoramic photo. One hundred and two photos are contained in the album, all are numbered and annotated by hand, in Russian with a translation into English (in a later handwriting). The album ends with eight additional bound leaves with thirty photos, also annotated, in an identical handwriting. Amongst the photos:
New houses for immigrants in Haifa; a swamp next to "Nachlat Ya'akov"; agricultural work in Nachlat Ya'akov; drying and draining swamps; dunes next to Acre; children in Kibbutz Ein Harod, Degania and Bat Galim; Book Fair in Tel Aviv; "Kfar Yeladim" educational institute (established in 1922, today in the city of Afula); Purim Carnival in Tel-Aviv; The Technion in Haifa; Panorama of Jerusalem; The Hebrew University in Jerusalem; "Old Afula" and "New Afula"; craftsmen in Kibbutz Ein Harod; Panorama of Kibbutz Beit Alfa; orange packaging; "Shemen" factory and flour mills in Haifa; the Tanur waterfall near Metula; Yehoshua Hankin; Inauguration ceremony of the Hebrew University; The Tower of David in Jerusalem, with a photo of the art exhibition; a concert with Prof. David Schorr in Migdal David; Yasha Hefetz in Ein Harod, and more. Size of photos varies, average size 11X17 cm, album 25X31 cm, good condition. Restored spine.