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held an exhibit of unique pieces from The Spira
Collection in 1981, the first time items from a private collection were ever placed on exhibit there. The major part of the Spira Collection was sold to the state of Qatar with plans of having the collection placed displayed in a yet to be constructed
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announced that severe budget cuts would results in layoffs and scrapping plans to build the proposed
International Media Museum that would have housed their part of the Spira Collection. Since that announcement, the fate of the Spira Collection is not known since the museum authority have since
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Fine Grain
Laboratories, a photo-processing business, in their apartment. Spira worked for the family business as well as part-time for another photofinisher, while attending evening high school and graduating as the class valedictorian. His father died unexpectedly in 1945 and Spira, who was
208:, had become fairly well known and the Japanese brands were completely unknown, the products that came out of these partnerships were sold under the Spiratone brand and Spira established rigorous quality assurance procedures to ensure that the merchandise that bore his name worked as intended.
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In 1946, Spira opened a store on West 27th Street and started to sell a variety of photographic equipment, including cameras and accessories, by mail. In the late 1940s, he became one of the first importers to work with
Japanese manufacturers in developing lenses, flash units, exposure meters,
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Spira was also at the "forefront" of the technological revolution in lens attachments having developed a variety of filters and lens accessories that added unusual and special effects to photographs, and was "the most important" supplier of such attachments.
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Spira began collecting autographs relating to the history of photography in the 1960s. By the end of that decade, he had progressed to collecting historic cameras and was involved in organizing what became the
American Photographic Historical Society.
145:(1924â2007) was an inventor and innovator in photography as well as a collector of photographic equipment, images, books, and ephemera. He is credited as one of three individuals who opened up the U.S. market to quality Japanese photographic goods.
278:, began writing a book on the history of photography, using pieces from The Spira Collection as illustrations. As the book got underway, Spira started to show signs of Alzheimer's and his son,
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until after the
AnschluÃ, when he was forced to leave school because of his Jewish heritage. In March 1939, he left Vienna through a
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with a public company, Interphoto, and the relationship with
Interphoto allowed the company to expand its reach, in 1967.
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The Spira
Collection eventually included over 20,000 items, including many items not found in any other collection. The
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Siegfried Franz Spira was born in Vienna, Austria to Hans and Paula (nÊe Back) Spira. His father was an official at the
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purpose-built photography museum. The remaining part was sold at auction in Vienna from 2006. In 2014,
437:"Photography; Auction of Historical Miscellany Yields $ 17,865 Civil War Pictures Daguerreotype Nudes"
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rescue mission and, as a result, spent ten months in
Doncaster, England, where he attended the
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used
Spiratone lenses and filters for many of his photographs that appeared in the pages of
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Spira left the company in 1987, and Spiratone ceased operation in the early 1990s.
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496:"Westlicht Photographica Sale On Nov. 18th Has Unique Ephemera, Equipment"
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magazine where he served as a writer and editor for a third of a century.
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already attending college, left school to support his mother and himself.
537:"Qatar Museums Authority announces re-branding amid layoff uncertainty"
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Admissions Registers. Percy Jackson GS Collection, Doncaster Archives
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tripods, and other photographic accessories. Since his company name,
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Obituary Correction Watch: We'll Fix It When We Get Around To It
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The History of Photography As Seen Through the Spira Collection
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The History of Photography As Seen Through The Spira Collection
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International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies
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and later owned the Photohaus Spira-Ritz. Spira attended the
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removed all mentions of the collection from their website.
582:"Fred Spira, 83, Who Made Photo Gadgets Accessible, Dies"
518:"Qatar's International Media Museum - 'plans scrapped'"
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In the late 1990s, Spira, with the encouragement of
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502:. No. 111. I Photo Central. 2006-09-26.
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359:. The Spira Collection, LLC. Archived from
341:. Vol. 15, no. 16. Archived from
672:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
595:Spira, S. F.; Lothrop, Eaton S. Jr. &
393:. Popular Photography, March 1984, p. 130.
94:Businessman, photography historian, author
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333:Keppler, Herbert (September 14, 2007).
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286:was named "a best book of the year" by
580:Hevesi, Dennis (September 14, 2007).
302:on September 2, 2007, at his home in
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556:Grundberg, Andy (December 2, 2001).
335:"The Way It Is Siegfried Franz Who?"
522:British photographic history (blog)
516:Pritchard, Michael (June 4, 2014).
472:. December 29, 2002. Archived from
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298:Spira died from complications of
535:Scott, Victoria (May 11, 2014).
466:"Doha to get photography museum"
692:20th-century American inventors
434:Deschin, Jacob (May 28, 1967).
406:"Camera View: Lens Attachments"
697:People from Whitestone, Queens
563:The New York Times Book Review
306:, New York, at the age of 83.
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403:Manning, Jack (May 1, 1977).
634:The Many Names of Fred Spira
172:Percy Jackson Grammar School
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603:. Danville, NJ: Aperture.
182:in February of that year.
639:In Memoriam - S. F. Spira
627:Archived official website
134:Archived official website
682:Kindertransport refugees
357:"The Hans Spira Gallery"
256:Qatar Museums Authority
160:Bodencreditanstalt bank
389:Kennedy, Cora Wright.
264:History of Photography
110:Founder and owner of
30:Siegfried Franz Spira
391:Tools and Techniques
251:George Eastman House
241:The Spira Collection
300:Alzheimer's disease
274:executive director
272:Aperture Foundation
228:Popular Photography
645:The New York Times
597:Spira, Jonathan B.
587:The New York Times
500:E-Photo Newsletter
443:The New York Times
412:The New York Times
304:Beechhurst, Queens
288:The New York Times
610:978-0-89381-953-8
476:on March 25, 2014
224:Norman Rothschild
164:Amerlinggymnasium
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99:Years active
86:S. Franklin Spira
55:September 2, 2007
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339:Photo Reporter
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478:. Retrieved
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57:(2007-09-02)
667:2007 deaths
662:1924 births
154:Early years
75:Nationality
656:Categories
367:2015-06-28
143:Fred Spira
36:1924-08-07
20:Fred Spira
542:Doha News
480:March 25,
452:117758117
421:123241091
213:Spiratone
206:Spiratone
199:Spiratone
192:Spiratone
149:Biography
118:Relatives
112:Spiratone
102:1946â1987
46:, Austria
599:(2001).
448:ProQuest
417:ProQuest
180:Volendam
78:American
67:New York
63:New York
176:Antonia
129:Website
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44:Vienna
310:Notes
294:Death
186:Youth
124:(son)
605:ISBN
482:2014
266:book
69:, US
52:Died
26:Born
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