Kessel
was born into an affluent farming family in Kiev in 1902, and was
using a Brownie camera from an early age. After the Revolution he
became a soldier in the Ukranian and Red Armies.and then
studied industrial chemistry. He left for America, arriving
in 1923, working initially as a furrier taking photographs
at the weekends in New York. In 1936 took his portfolio to FORTUNE
who commissioneed a spread from him on Simmons mattresses, see above Beautyrest. Alongside
Bourke White he was a pioneer in the early stages of industrial photography
when images matched words on the page.The beginning of his American
career coincided with the development of 35mm cameras, portability
and flexibility on location. See his book On
Assignment, Dmitri Kessel Life Photographer, New York, Abrams
1985.He
was primarily known for daring and original war photography, mainly
for LIFE magazine starting in 1937, given a retainer by the magazine
that guaranteed ten days work a month. See John G.Morris,
Get the Picture, a Personal History of Photo-Journalism,
University of Chicago Press, 2002.
The Sperry feature is well worth the study for its fluidity of deploying photographs across a double page spread, the subtle combination of colour with black and white, and the integration of diagrams (of still and kinetic processes). Kessel also delights with his colour work among the Sun Ships.