This book intends to correct the somewhat blurred image of Ernst Haas's color photography which, due to its extraordinary vibrancy, was much in demand by the illustrated press of its time. Haas's color work, published in the most influential magazines and various books in Europe and America, earned him worldwide fame, but at the same time has often been derided by critics and curators as too easily accessible and not sufficiently 'serious.' As a result, his reputation has suffered in comparison with a younger generation of color photographers, notably Eggleston, Shore and Meyerowitz.

Ernst Haas was born in Vienna in 1921 and took up photography after World War II. His early work on returning Austrian§prisoners of war brought him to the attention of Life Magazine, from which he courageously declined a job as staff§photographer in order to maintain his independence. At the invitation of Robert Capa, Haas joined Magnum in 1949, developing§close associations with Capa, Werner Bishof and Henri Cartier-Bresson. He began experimenting with colour,§and went on to become the premier colour photographer of the 1950s. In 1962 New York s Museum of Modern Art§mounted its first solo exhibition of his colour photography. Haas books were legion, and one, The Creation (1971), sold§350.000 copies. Ernst Haas received the Hasselblad award in 1986, the year of his death.