The Remarkable Life

The remarkable life of Wilhelm Nassau 

 from the Waterloo Region Record, July 28, 2015
http://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/5763972-the-remarkable-life-of-wilhelm-nassau/

By Luisa D’Amato

Up in his cluttered work room at Waterloo's Clay and Glass Gallery, Wilhelm Nassau shows off a unique, handmade piece of furniture with great pride. 

It's a stand he custom-designed for photographing glass objects. Huge Hollywood-style movie lights are affixed to metal shelving, flooding the sculpture with light from all directions. 

Photo by David Bebee,Record Staff
Wilhelm Nassau, with one of the Clay and Glass
Gallery's collection on a light table he built
for photographing works of art at the gallery.
Nassau 92, is a loyal longtime volunteer.

The stand is also a testament to a remarkable life story, overflowing with rich experiences and knowledge. It started with film and television in his native Austria, moved to journalism and teaching in North America, and is concluding with a reputation as an international expert on glass and imaging technology. 

Now 92, Nassau still volunteers at the gallery. He brought those power lights all the way from Austria, where his film career began. As for the rest of the stand, it's made from unwanted metal shelving "that Wilfrid Laurier threw in the garbage" decades ago, when he was head of the audiovisual department there. 

But the machine does the job beautifully. The sculpture looks luminous. 

Nassau's lifetime has run alongside stunning advances in technology over the past century. Born in Vienna in 1922, he remembers his mother taking him to a show in Munich in 1937. He was just 15. He saw a television. 

"It was very primitive. It looked like a … messy photograph. And I said, 'That's what I want to learn.'"

He went to college and then worked as a photographer during the war. Afterwards, Vienna — like much of Europe — was chaotic. Nassau made a living, for a time, as a historical researcher and photographer during the making of the film, "The Third Man." 

He started making films for television in the 1950s and moved to North America. He documented the funeral of assassinated president John F. Kennedy, and took a photo of John Jr. raising his tiny arm in a salute as the procession passed by. 

It was a moment of grief for the nation, but Nassau was every inch the professional as he recalled it. "When you are a news person, it is a job," he said. "You don't get emotionally involved. You've got to get your pictures and see that they go to the airport." 

Nassau moved to Waterloo and his career entered a new phase as he helped pioneer television as a teaching tool at Wilfrid Laurier University. While head of the audiovisual department there, he also taught classes in film, photography and television. 

"I loved the classroom," Nassau said. "I loved the interaction with young people." 

He moved from one project to another with relentless energy. After teaching, he got a master's degree in fine arts and archeology, specializing in Roman and pre-Roman glass. He produced documentaries, about the history and technology involved with glass, which have attracted international attention. Always grounded in the technical, he re-created glass objects from ancient methods. 

Today, he still works at the Waterloo gallery, repairing broken items that people bring in. How does he keep his energy so high? "Doing things" is his simple reply. 

You don't have to meet Nassau to feel his spirit. Step into the building, and before you even get to the gift shop and reception desk, you'll see detailed models that show how glass was made more than 3,500 years ago, how it was made during the Roman Empire, and in the guild system of the Middle Ages. It transmits a passionate love of the art, and a fierce will to teach. Just like Nassau himself.