\nFor this particular class, Klaus arranged a tour of Ellis Island, which at the time had been completely abandoned\u00a0\u00a0since 1954 with only limited access to the public. \u201cWhen we first got out there it was totally overgrown,\u201d he recalled. \u201cIt was like being inside a jungle. And you\u2019d sit on the edge and you\u2019d have an incredible view of Manhattan.\u201d<\/div>
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As it turned out, a single visit to the long forsaken iconic landmark proved to be insufficient to capture the vast array of nostalgia left behind. \u201cWe would open rooms that hadn\u2019t been opened since 1954,\u201d said Klaus. \u201cThere would be a newspaper and a dried up cup of coffee. And it looked like people just abandoned the island like someone had said, \u2018You have to get off this island in the next hour.\u2019 It was a strange place.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>
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\u201cThey had everything there,\u201d Klaus recalled. \u201cA giant kitchen. A mattress sterilization unit. You had these huge hospital wings. People who were sick stayed out on the island and they had excellent medical facilities. If you were a young doctor assigned to Ellis Island it was fabulous because you would see diseases you wouldn\u2019t see any other place.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>
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Knowing that the site was due for a major restoration, Klaus sent a proposal to the National Park Service. \u201cI said, \u2018Let me make you a deal. My students will photograph the renovation. You\u2019ll have documentation in exchange for access to the island.\u2019 And they accepted it.\u201d But while Klaus had gained entr\u00e9e and essentially free reign of the premises, he had yet to consider the logistics. \u201cI thought, \u2018Oh my god, how are we going to get there?\u2019 because there was no bridge,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo I was in a real pickle. But I found someone with an old boat in Hoboken. He would drop us off at the island and pick us up in the late afternoon. We did this three days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Year after year, Klaus\u2019s students returned to the island to capture images of dusty artifacts and long-forgotten corridors. On occasion, despite the robust rat population, they even braved an overnight stay.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been estimated that almost 40 percent of U.S. citizens can trace their ancestor\u2019s entry point to Ellis Island. But for Klaus, the recollection of arriving in the United States as an immigrant isn\u2019t a tale told by an older relative. The story is his own.<\/p>\n
In 1957, at age thirteen, Klaus left his hometown of Nieb\u00fcll, Germany along with his mother and younger brother to settle in upstate New York. \u201cMy mother was a widow. There weren\u2019t many men left in her age group because of the war and there weren\u2019t many work opportunities in the town we were in. But at forty to pack up and leave everything behind, including my older brother who was in trade school, took a lot of guts. My brother came a year later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Klaus and his family spent their first year in Oneonta, New York. \u201cI found my classmates were extremely friendly. Considering the war wasn\u2019t that far away. I was totally amazed. I was struggling with the language. I would teach them German and they would teach me English.\u201d<\/p>\n
After attending high school in Albany, New York, Klaus applied to community college with the hope of becoming an architect. \u201cI realized I might be designing window frames for the rest of my life because every architect wants to be \u2018the\u2019 architect and I thought, \u2018I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to work out too well.\u2019 So I transferred to SUNY Albany in 1964. I\u2019ve always been interested in politics and\u00a0social sciences so I was in the teacher program.\u201d It was there that he began working for the school newspaper which was a powerful entity in a politically tumultuous time. \u201cThey handed me a Rolleiflex and had me cover a rally for Goldwater. I didn\u2019t\u00a0\u00a0know what I was doing. It was a trial by fire but it came out okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
For two years between undergraduate and graduate school in the late sixties, Klaus had two university assistantships: one for the art department and one for publications. During this time, photography quickly became a passion for Klaus. He photographed everything from record covers and architecture to student protests and rock and roll concerts. \u201cIt was a really good time,\u201d he said. \u201cA group of us had a big apartment. We had a roommate who had a Volkswagen van and we\u2019d go to the Newport Jazz Festival, racetracks and folk festivals.\u201d<\/p>\n
One particularly memorable excursion took Klaus to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where the Doors were performing. \u201cI got some really nice photographs of Jim Morrison and when he was back up at Saratoga Performing Arts Center that summer I brought a bunch of pictures backstage and his manager said, \u2018We like these pictures. Stay here.\u2019 And Morrison comes from the dressing room and said, \u2018You can go any place you want.\u2019 \u201cKlaus\u2019s images earned him an enviable spot on stage. He described the moments he witnessed as he stood on the sidelines. \u201cMorrison\u2019s charisma was unbelievable,\u201d he said. \u201cHe would put up his hand and the crowd would rush the stage and then he would put up his hand and they would all stop. The intensity. It was breathtaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being a photographer in the 1960s often placed Klaus front and center as history unfolded before him at student demonstrations on campus as well as national events like the March on the Pentagon. \u201cThere were huge crowds,\u201d he recalled, referring to the Washington, D.C. event. \u201cWe marched towards the Pentagon and it got denser and denser. People were burning draft cards\u00a0\u00a0which was a criminal offense at that time. Once in a while, you would hear a roar and a soldier would drop his rifle and walk into the crowd.<\/p>\n
A deserter. That took a lot of guts. The energy was unbelievable. But if I went to a demonstration today I wouldn\u2019t be able to photograph as freely. As a journalist, you were never attacked or harassed. Nowadays with the polarization, it becomes much more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those historic demonstrations, as well as Klaus\u2019s encounter with Jim Morrison, are among the many unique experiences his photographic career has afforded him. These days Klaus, who was once a racing instructor for the BMW club, spends much of his time behind the lens photographing cars for automotive magazine covers as well as writing about historic cars and collectors.
\nIn February, as Klaus approaches his retirement from Montclair State University in the spring, many of the exceptional images he\u2019s captured over five decades are set to be celebrated in a retrospective of his work, along with those \u00a0of 50 of his former students and alumni of MSU. Many graduates who\u2019ve benefited from Klaus\u2019s guidance have gone on to have successful photographic careers of their own. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve done with my students is to help them to find their own voice,\u201d he explained. \u201cI really pushed them to look into themselves and do something that\u2019s unique to their vision. Their concept.\u201d<\/div>
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This piece was written by Candace Horowitz for Montclair Neighbors Magazine<\/a><\/p>\n