A fascinating photo exhibit is available for anyone interested in getting a remarkable look at pre-war Europe.  A young man was taken on a summer trip of 8 European countries.  Richard Scheur took multiple rolls of film and had an incredible knack of connecting with the people and places on his journey.  The photos of life in the cities, countryside, and artistic settings makes for an enlightening walk through history.

The film was never developed and remained in Richard Scheur’s Larchmont house for almost 80 years.  After Scheur’s death, his children found the negatives and connected with Charles Seton, a famous photographer.  Seton was amazed by the aesthetic quality of the photos and decided that the world had to see them.  

“Street Visions Europe-1934” will run through December 15.  It is at the Bernard Heller Museum located at One West Fourth Street(between Broadway and Mercer Street in the West Village). Mondays-Thursday, 9 am- 6pm. Free Admission.  An added bonus is the complimentary beautiful souvenir catalogue of the exhibit that includes every photo and the back story of Scheur and Seton.

As you walk through the gallery, looking at each photo, you wonder how the events of World War 2 impacted the lives that were captured so beautifully.  And, the reality that over 40 million European lives were lost, makes the exhibit on reflection, heartbreaking.