In the vibrant 1920s and 1930s, photographers Cami and Sasha Stone played a major role in the artistic world, from Berlin to Brussels. Their studio, Studio Stone, specialized in advertising, industrial and artistic photography. The Musée de la Photographie and the Amsab Institute for Social History joined forces to exhibit their iconic work in a historical, artistic and political context.
The exhibition shows the versatility of Cami and Sasha Stone. Their work includes architecture and industrial photography, nude photography, spectacle photos and portraits of famous artists and politicians. These photos are presented alongside publications from that period. The research offers a new perspective on these forgotten photographers from the interbellum and highlights the diversity of their oeuvre.
Studio Stone, or Atelier Stone, emerged from the collaboration between the Belgian Wilhelmine Camille Honorine Schammelhout (Cami Stone) and the Russian Aleksander Serge Steinsapir (Sasha Stone). They met in Berlin and founded their studio there in 1924. At the time, they were considered among the best photographers of their time. Journalists and critics praised their work and placed them on the same level as, or even higher than, famous photographers such as André Kertész, Germaine Krull, László Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray.
Collaboration between the Musée de la Photographie in Charleroi and the Amsab Institute for Social History
This exhibition is a collaboration between the Musée de la Photographie and Amsab-ISG in Ghent, which owns 170 original prints, posters and documents of the Stones. This material was supplemented with collections from the Musée de la Photographie and other Belgian and German institutions.
The only previous solo exhibition of Sasha Stone took place in Germany in 1990 and was also shown at the FOMU in Antwerp. Studio Stone builds on previous investigations and re-evaluations of the Stones' work. This exhibition offers a fresh look at their photography and shows previously unpublished works and documents.
Practical information
From February 1 to May 18, 2025
Museum of Photography
11 avenue Paul Pastur
Pl. des Essarts, 6032 Charleroi
info & tickets
Catalogs
The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue with contributions from experts in photography, literature and political history. This catalogue is for sale in our webshop.
Website: a digital archive about the world of the Stones
In addition to the exhibition and the catalogue, there is now a new way to explore their work: the Studio Stone website. The website follows the structure of the exhibition in the Musée de la Photographie and provides an overview of the same themes: political portraits, urban photography, nude photography, theatre & dance and more. In addition, a separate page offers an overview of their work in international collections. This digital archive brings together rarely shown photos and documents and thus casts a broader view of their artistic world and legacy.
Institutions with works in the exhibition
- Amsab Institute for Social History, Ghent Archives of the City of Brussels
- Archives et Musée de la Littérature, Brussels
- Axel Springer Syndication, Ullstein Bild, Berlin
- Berlinische Galerie, Berlin
- BOZAR, Brussels
- Centre Pompidou, National Museum of Modern Art, Paris, via the Photo Agency GrandPalaisRmn, Paris
- Folkwang Museum, Essen, via the Artothek, Fürth
- FOMU, Antwerp
- Emile Vandervelde Institute, Brussels
- Institute for Theater Science, Berlin
- Royal Library and Bibliothèque royale, Brussels Landesarchiv, Berlin
- Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi
- Musée Nicephore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône
- Stadel Museum, Frankfurt
- City Archives, Magdeburg
- City Museum, Berlin
- UGent, Ghent.
The exhibition and accompanying catalogue benefited from the support of the Flemish and French Communities of Belgium.
