John Li
Member
Hi All,
Recently I acquired this Leica IIIc with Red curtain from a local guy in Australia.
According to the previous owner, he claims that this camera was originally belongs to Hitler’s film director Leni Riefenstahl. The camera was gifted to his grandfather by Leni. The camera stayed in the family for years unused [ the curtain have become sticky to a point where it may need to be replacing ]
I know its a long shot in identifying / confirming this but I though I throw it out there. The SN of the camera is 370402.
Recently I acquired this Leica IIIc with Red curtain from a local guy in Australia.
According to the previous owner, he claims that this camera was originally belongs to Hitler’s film director Leni Riefenstahl. The camera was gifted to his grandfather by Leni. The camera stayed in the family for years unused [ the curtain have become sticky to a point where it may need to be replacing ]
I know its a long shot in identifying / confirming this but I though I throw it out there. The SN of the camera is 370402.
Attachments
analogish
Established
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=de&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.welt.de%2Fprint-welt%2Farticle274695%2FLeni-Riefenstahls-Leica-wird-versteigert.html&sandbox=1
This auction was in 2003. Maybe Westlicht can help with further information about Leni's IIIc.
Good luck finding out the history.
If you decide to service it, Alan Starkie can restore the red curtains. He did the same to my red curtain IIIc, the only tech I am aware of that provides this service.
cameraworks-uk.com
If you decide to service it, Alan Starkie can restore the red curtains. He did the same to my red curtain IIIc, the only tech I am aware of that provides this service.
cameraworks-uk.com
Dralowid
Michael
You have reminded me that I met her once, she was working on projects in Africa at the time. A little scary.
Gregm61
Well-known
Sounds like a good story, but from the attached article by splitimageview, that sounds like all it is, a story. What you have is not a IIIC converted to a IIIF, nor a Summitar lens. Hopefully no one paid a "fake history" premium.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Leni Riefenstahl had a grey (painted) IIIc, No 350452.
Erik.
Erik.
Sounds interesting. Is it possible/appropriate to elaborate, please? I've seen some of her published images made on that continent which I presume may have been recorded around the time you met her.
Cheers,
Brett
Larry Cloetta
Veteran
As she was a professional photographer and film maker, it’s highly likely she would have owned more than one camera in her hundred and one year life. Photographers frequently own more than one camera over a lifetime, or so I hear, so the documented existence of one Leica serial number with proven provenance doesn’t necessarily mean that the OP doesn’t now have one of the more than likely other ones. Who knows.
FWIW, “The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Reifenstahl” is a fascinating film biography, no matter what one might think of her, ahem, early choices.
FWIW, “The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Reifenstahl” is a fascinating film biography, no matter what one might think of her, ahem, early choices.
Dralowid
Michael
I met her through an anthropologist called Andrew Baring who was working in the Nuba and Darfur areas. Must have been late '70s(?). She called him Herr Boring but neither of us knew whether she was joking. His opinion of her was not a million miles away from that of Alexandrea Ludewig which I quote below, the last few lines being key:
(2006)
'Leni Riefenstahl, a legend recently deceased at more than 100 years of age, is perhaps best known for her association with Hitler in the form of her films Olympia and Triumph of the Will, and she has provoked controversy ever since. This paper will focus on the lesser-known African travel books which Riefenstahl published in Germany between 1972 and 1976. Therein she presents images of Nubian people taken in the Sudanese mountains which seem to echo her previous work in their portrayal of physical perfection. While her pictures of the Nubian people have so far been looked at as a homogeneous body of work, the following analysis will concentrate on the qualitative difference between Riefenstahl's first and subsequent Nuba photo-publications and her changing motivations. Riefenstahl's romantic quest to capture the innocence of Africa and her desire for renewal and salvation on the edges of civilisation, which were at the centre of her first visit to the region, are to be seen in stark contrast to the driving force behind following visits, when she sought to push into an even more unknown and wilder Africa, whereby her camera attempted to produce images reminiscent of a sublime. I will argue that, in doing so, Riefenstahl regressed into producing Eurocentric and sensationalist depictions of ‘her Africans’. Likewise, her role as an agent for change is viewed critically against her self-perception as an anthropological conservationist; her pictures are analysed together with her own commentary. Her narrative accompanying the photos seems to diminish the power of her images and may affect her reputation as a great visual artist as it appears to suggest doubtful motives.'
There is plenty of stuff on the internet (including the above), I have no comment to make apart from copying some of it here. As to cameras, she would have had loads of the bloomin things!
(2006)
'Leni Riefenstahl, a legend recently deceased at more than 100 years of age, is perhaps best known for her association with Hitler in the form of her films Olympia and Triumph of the Will, and she has provoked controversy ever since. This paper will focus on the lesser-known African travel books which Riefenstahl published in Germany between 1972 and 1976. Therein she presents images of Nubian people taken in the Sudanese mountains which seem to echo her previous work in their portrayal of physical perfection. While her pictures of the Nubian people have so far been looked at as a homogeneous body of work, the following analysis will concentrate on the qualitative difference between Riefenstahl's first and subsequent Nuba photo-publications and her changing motivations. Riefenstahl's romantic quest to capture the innocence of Africa and her desire for renewal and salvation on the edges of civilisation, which were at the centre of her first visit to the region, are to be seen in stark contrast to the driving force behind following visits, when she sought to push into an even more unknown and wilder Africa, whereby her camera attempted to produce images reminiscent of a sublime. I will argue that, in doing so, Riefenstahl regressed into producing Eurocentric and sensationalist depictions of ‘her Africans’. Likewise, her role as an agent for change is viewed critically against her self-perception as an anthropological conservationist; her pictures are analysed together with her own commentary. Her narrative accompanying the photos seems to diminish the power of her images and may affect her reputation as a great visual artist as it appears to suggest doubtful motives.'
There is plenty of stuff on the internet (including the above), I have no comment to make apart from copying some of it here. As to cameras, she would have had loads of the bloomin things!
analogish
Established
I wanted to write that in the same moment. Leni even used Leica M and R cameras as well.
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=de&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fimaginative.link%2Fhtm%2F054-int101%2Fint01txt-d-01.htm
"A grey Leica IIIc (made in 1945) which had belonged to the photographer and director Leni Riefenstahl who died just before the auction, was sold for 8,500 Euros (ex. surcharges)."
Erik van Straten
Veteran
It is always annoying when good photos have bad commentary, even if it is from the maker herself.
Erik.
Erik.
I seem to recall she made use of Arnold & Richter motion picture equipment among others, I know little about her preferences for stills imaging. Thanks for sharing those recollections!
Cheers
Brett
olifaunt
Well-known
American o sounds like German a, so it's possible she wasn't.
Larry Cloetta
Veteran
Dralowid, fascinating story.
Regarding one line from the Ludewig quotation, “may affect her reputation as a great visual artist as it appears to suggest doubtful motives.“
Conjecture as we might about her “motives”, (something she always seemed pretty opaque about) that should not affect her reputation as a visual artist. Anyone taking the time to watch “Triumph of the Will” or “Olympia” would be forced to admit that the woman knew how to frame a shot.
Unfortunately.
Regarding one line from the Ludewig quotation, “may affect her reputation as a great visual artist as it appears to suggest doubtful motives.“
Conjecture as we might about her “motives”, (something she always seemed pretty opaque about) that should not affect her reputation as a visual artist. Anyone taking the time to watch “Triumph of the Will” or “Olympia” would be forced to admit that the woman knew how to frame a shot.
Unfortunately.
Dralowid
Michael
Good God man, we're British!
olifaunt
Well-known
My apologies then! I was just thinking of when I moved to the U.S. and had to change my "o"s to "a"s so as not to have to repeat myself ad infinitum to be understood. Or even my "a"s to "a"s, as in ordering wAdder to drink in a restaurant as opposed to wo-ter.
Dralowid
Michael
You are forgiven! I am misunderstood wherever I go.
Going back to the lady herself, she was certainly very good at her job.
Going back to the lady herself, she was certainly very good at her job.
giganova
Well-known
She definitely was, for better or for worse.
