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Photographer Elsbeth Juda had her first exhibition in 2009, at the age of 98. She is charming, with a wicked sense of humour and an artist’s curiosity, visiting a gallery every day, her choice determined by whichever bus comes first. Elsbeth and her husband escaped the rising tide of Nazism in Berlin, arriving in London with just a suitcase full of books and a violin. She became one of her era’s most successful photographers, covering Churchill and Henry Moore alongside fashion shoots, bringing an outsider’s eye on the British Establishment, seen through the prism of her cosmopolitan European background.


Directed and Produced by Cıarín Scott,

Camera and Co-producer- Henry Richards

© Atlantic Film Alliance 2011

Life Begins @100

the life and work of Elsbeth Juda

(c) Elsbeth Juda- from the exhibition ‘Jay’ 1940-1965

Filming highlights

Elsbeth’s 100th Birthday Party

Elsbeth celebrated her 100th birthday with a huge party and guests of all ages. Now she’s made her century, far from slowing down, she’s considering a new career.

The Ambassador at the V&A

We visited London’s Victoria & Albert Museum with Elsbeth, looking at back issues of The Ambassador, the magazine where Elsbeth was staff photographer. Many of her most enduring images first appeared on its pages.

‘Jay’ 1940-1965

Elsbeth and her friend, the actress Maureen Lipman, guided us through the work on show at Elsbeth’s first exhibition.

Elsbeth Juda

Portrait by Sarah FitzGerald