Anonymous photographer House on Fire, 1950s

Marine Lazarre b. Marina Katarzyna Lázár, 17 January 1930, Krakow, Poland; lives in London. Evacuated 1939, mother d. Polish labour camp, 1943; reunited with father, Adam Lázár, New York, 1945. Lived Pittsburgh 1946–1952, studied fine art at Carnegie Institute of Technology. Began to use cine film after receiving a Bolex 16mm camera, a gift from her father in 1949. First professional assignment for the American Broadcasting Company, the trial of the Atomic Spies, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and Morten Sobell, March 1951 (footage rejected by ABC). 1953, m. Paris, John Chalcraft, British diplomat. Changes name to Marine Lazarre Chalcraft. Over the next three decades recorded decisive moments in world history including Stalin’s funeral (Moscow, 1953), Hungarian Uprising (Budapest, 1956), Cuban Missile Crisis (Washington, 1963). Watts Riots (Los Angeles, 1965), Student Uprising (Paris, 1968), Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Anti-Apartheid rallies (London, 1980s), demonstration in support of Miners’ Strike (London, 1984). Following her retirement, her film archive was sought out by international academics and independent investigators though much of the footage was found to have been unprocessed and has disintegrated. A single surviving reel, labelled Paris, 13 May 1968, is being screened here for the first time.

National Museum in Krakow, The Stanisław Wyspiański Museum,

ul. Szczepańska 11