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 Had you asked me a few days ago if I knew of the work of photographer Irwin Klein, I would have said "are you sure you don't mean William Klein?" But I did know of Irwin Klein's work, through a picture that was firmly burned into my mental image store and appropriately called 'Minnesota Fire (1962)'.
My archive of Creative Camera had prompted an enquiry from Irwin's nephew regarding a reference to his late uncle in an issue dating from 1979. When I pulled out the relevant copy and saw the photograph (reproduced right) I immediately recognised it, although I couldn't have told you who had taken it previous to that.
 My memory of the image came from its use in John Szarkowski's somewhat contentious book 'Mirrors & Windows: American Photography Since 1960', first published in 1978, now out of print. Szarkowski had a keen eye for a good photograph/photographer and obviously knew of Klein's work as he included it the show of the same name at MOMA. It is a tribute to the stature of this image that Creative Camera chose to reproduce it to accompany their short review of Szarkowski's catalogue of the show.
 Irwin Klein tragically took his own life in 1974 whilst suffering severe depression. His body of works spans the period 1962 to 1974 and is quite iconic. Just like Tony Ray-Jones - with whose work I could draw many parallels - a promising photographer was lost far too early. He did achieve some recognition during his lifetime, but obviously could have gone on to greater things had he survived.
The pictures he left behind cover distinct projects he set himself and are truly representative of that style of 60s and 70s black and white photography that inspired my interest in the medium around that time. Regrettably, after his death much of his archive was lost. All that remains is a collection of prints and some colour slides.
 Fortunately his family, in particular brother Alan Klein, are doing their utmost to keep his memory alive. A show of his work was held in New York last year at the Domeischel Gallery and the family have a website that houses his various projects.
The majority of the photographs that survive were taken in New York, Minnesota and New Mexico and are black and white. Just before his death, Klein was assembling a colour sequence entitled 'Only the Dead Know Brooklyn', the title taken from a book of the same name by Thomas Wolfe. He never completed it, but his brother has taken the work and sequenced it as he felt it was meant to be. You can view this set as a series of slideshows and movies (the slideshows are more effective) on a new site: Only The Dead Know Brooklyn. I've spent time in Brooklyn and, whilst it was not quite the same in the 1990s as Klein portrayed it in the 1970s, the pictures are still extremely resonant of my memories of the area.
 I'm simultaneously gladdened and saddened when I discover work by a photographer such as this. I'm pleased to discover such a rich vein of imagery, but angry with the demons that conspired to take him before he had finished and regretful that the majority of the work he did produce has been lost. That said, we should be grateful that these pictures did survive, and that they are being made available for all to see once again.
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