Fred Fischer

Fred Fischer was born in 1905 in Grinzing near Vienna in Austria. In the 1920s he had been an assistant of the German cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan, before moving to Amsterdam. In the 1930s, Fischer came to Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles, working as a jazz musician on a ship. After a performance in Piscadera, he decided to stay on the island. He set up a photo and film studio and also became a press photographer.

When the Second World War broke out, Fischer was working on board of a KNSM ship on a film about Curaçao. Although being a jew, but because of his Austrian nationality, Fischer was interned in a camp on the island of Bonaire during the Second World War, the Netherlands being at war with Austria and Germany. After the war, Fischer stayed on Curaçao where he ran his studio Foto Fischer. He became famous for being one of the first underwater photographers. He was the island's so-called nestor of photography and trained many professional photographers and amateurs.

Fred Fischer died in Willemstad, Curaçao, in 1981. His negatives were acquired by the Curaçao National Archive in the 1980s.