The National Portrait Gallery in London has acquired two portraits of Kindertransport refugees from a series made by photographer Simon Hill HonFRPS. The photographs will be held in the gallery’s Permanent Collection. Genesis is honoured to have printed both portraits as Giclée Fine Art Prints on Hahnemühle Baryta paper.
The portraits, of Alfred Dubs (The Right Honourable The Lord Dubs, Baron Dubs of Battersea) (born 1932) and of Vera Scaufeld MBE (born Vera Lowyova, 1930), were made for Warner Brothers Pictures in October 2023.
The portraits were commissioned by Warner Brothers Pictures to celebrate the European première of the film ‘One Life’ (dir. James Hawes) at the 2023 London Film Festival.
The film ‘One Life’ – starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Flynn – tells the true story of Sir Nicholas Winton MBE, a British stockbroker and humanitarian who rescued 669 children, mainly Jewish, at risk of being murdered by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
The portraits, together with those of nine other Kindertransport refugees taken by Hill, were first seen in December 2023 at a special event hosted by Warner Brothers Pictures at the National Portrait Gallery and were subsequently included in an online exhibition hosted by the gallery and created in partnership with Warner Brothers Pictures to coincide with the release of ‘One Life’. See here.
Simon Hill (Photographer) says: “It has been an immense honour to create photographic portraits of the Kindertransport refugees who, in 1938, fled the persecution of the Nazis and sought safety in Britain. I hope my portraits have captured their remarkable character, hinting at their stories of survival, and celebrating the profound contribution each has made to British society. The portraits of Alf Dubs and Vera Scaufeld acquired by the National Portrait Gallery for its Permanent Collection will ensure the legacy of these individuals, as representatives of all the Kindertransport refugees, is preserved for generations to come. The inclusion of these portraits in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery reflects the deep respect and gratitude Britain holds for these refugees, whose resilience and determination has enriched the cultural, intellectual, and humanitarian fabric of the country. I hope future generations will see these portraits and through them celebrate the impact of the Kindertransport refugees on the British way of life, honouring their enduring place in our shared history.”
Clare Freestone (Curator of Photography, National Portrait Gallery) says: “We are delighted that these two portraits from Simon Hill’s portfolio of Kindertransport refugees are entering our Permanent Collection. Behind the contemplative photographs of Lord Alfred Dubs and Vera Scofield, captured sensitively by Simon, are two moving and inspirational lives.”
Photographic Notes
The portraits were made with a Hasselblad X2D-100c camera and Hasselbald XCD 55mm lens, using Profoto electronic flash lighting. Hill had less than five minutes with each refugee to make the portraits.
Simon Hill (Photographer) says: “I had only a few minutes with each of the Kindertransport refugees before they were escorted, as VIP guests, into the premiere screening of the film. The Hasselblad 100 megapixel camera allowed me to work fast and tethered to my iPad for preview. As soon as I had nailed the shot, the next refugee was brought into the makeshift studio. It all happened so very fast. When it came to printing the images, Genesis was the obvious choice; the care and attention they provide to the task is remarkable. The team at Genesis made the test prints and then the final prints in record time. To retain the look and feel of a traditional silver halide photographic print, I selected Hahnemühle Photo Silk Baryta X 310, an acid-free 100% alpha-cellulose paper perfectly suited to the effect and with excellent archival properties.”
BACKGROUND INFO
Simon Hill HonFRPS
Simon is an award-winning professional editorial photographer living in the north of England and working internationally. His work embraces portrait, heritage, landscape, documentary and photojournalism. His photography has appeared in National Geographic Magazine, The Observer Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine and many other publications. He is the only British winner of the International Art Portrait Award. In January 2021, Simon was elected President of the Royal Photographic Society and is the longest serving President since the late 1800s.
Alfred Dubs
Alf was six years old when he travelled on one of Winton’s Kindertransport refugee trains from Prague, in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, to England. He became a Labour politician and a leading human rights campaigner advocating for refugee rights. He was MP for Battersea (1979-87), seeing four years as shadow Home Office minister. In 206, Dubs sponsored an amendment (later known as the ‘dubs Amendment’) to the Immigration Act 2016, affording safe passage to Britain for children stranded in Europe; reflecting his own journey as a six year old child refugee.
Vera Scaufeld
Vera was born in Prague and spent most of her childhood in the town of Klatovy. Her mother was a doctor and her father was a lawyer and prominent figure in the Jewish community. Concerned for Vera’s safety following the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, they sent her to England on the Kindertransport. Vera would never again see her parents as both perished in the Holocaust. Vera trained as a teacher and devoted herself to working with refugees. In 2018, she was made an MBE for services to Holocaust education and in 2019 received an honorary degree from the University of Roehampton.
Nicholas Winton
Sir Nicholas George Winton MBE (19 May 1909 – 1 July 2015) was a British stockbroker and humanitarian who helped to rescue children who were at risk of being murdered by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. Born to German-Jewish parents who had immigrated to Britain at the beginning of the 20th century, Winton assisted in the rescue of 669 children, most of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II. This operation was later known as the Czech “Kindertransport” (German for ‘children’s transport’).