Ryszard Horowitz (born 1939 in Kraków, Poland) is recognized as a pioneer of special effects photography predating digital images.. At the age of only four months, he and his family were whisked into a series of concentration camps following the Nazi invasion of Poland. After years of imprisonment, he and his parents survived the horrors of the work camps. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he became interested in photography, particularly the work of American photographers. Avant-garde jazz was of particular interest to Horowitz, and he photographed many jazz legends. Ryszard immigrated to the United States in 1959. He enrolled at the Pratt Institute in New York City.