Emil Mayer

Emil Mayer (October 5, 1871 in Neubydzow, Bohemia – June 8, 1938 in Vienna) was an Austrian jurist and photographer.

Life

From 1891 to 1896 Mayer studied law at the University of Vienna. In 1896, he earned the juris doctorate. In 1894, while still a student, he converted from the Jewish community to Catholicism. After his studies he settled in Vienna, where he worked as a lawyer. His first experience in photography was as an amateur. He was a member of several Viennese photographer associations that focused on artistic photography. Mayer also authored a textbook and was awarded several patents. He was an honorary member of many domestic and foreign photographers' clubs. Finally, he left the law firm he was working at founded a photographic technology company namedDrem Office. His artistic photos include documentary images of Wienerstraße images. To escape persecution from the Nazi regime after the annexation of Austria in March 1938, he and his wife committed suicide on June 8, 1938.

Writings

• Bromöldruck und -Umdruck. (Enzyklopädie der Photographie; 81). 10. und 11. ergänzte Auflage. Knapp, Halle (Saale) 1927 (Digitalisat)

Literature

• Damals in Wien. Menschen um die Jahrhundertwende Photographien von Emil Mayer. Eine Ausstellung von Franz Hubmann. Mit Texten von Franz Hubmann und Christian Brandstätter. Jüdisches Museum Wien / Verlag Christian Brandstätter, Wien 1995, ISBN 3-85447-532-2 (Digitalisat)
• Viennese types. Photographs c. 1910 by Emil Mayer. Essay by Edward Rosser. Blind River Ed., New York 1999, ISBN 0-9672975-0-8.
• Anna Hanreich: Zur Photographie Emil Mayers. Die Wiener Typen und der Wurstelprater. Ein Vortrag Emil Mayers über den Wiener Wurstelprater wurde im Österreichischen Volkshochschularchiv wiederentdeckt. 2005.