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The MoMa’s New Exhibition Surveys a Century of Photographs by Women
“The histories of feminism and photography have long been entwined,” curator Roxana Marcoci writes in the exhibition catalogue chapter ‘What Is a Feminist Picture?’ of the MoMa’s new exhibition, Our Selves: Photographs by Women Artists from Helen Kornblum. Read More.
WALL STREET JOURNAL- Holiday Gift Books 2021: By William Meyers 11/16/21
“Her work is distinguished by its empathy; her pictures of children being children are magnificent”.
RUTH ORKIN: A PHOTO SPIRIT – By Mary Engel, Editor- Hatje Cantz
The picture on the back of the jacket of “Ruth Orkin: A Photo Spirit” is from Orkin’s “American Girl in Italy” essay, the attractive art student being ogled by a gaggle of men on a street in Florence; 17 other pictures from the series, reproduced inside, testify to Orkin’s abilities as a storyteller. One of the most successful midcentury female photojournalists, Orkin (1921-1985) shot celebrities (Joan Crawford, Albert Einstein, Lauren Bacall, Marlon Brando), street scenes (“Women With Protest Posters,” “V-E Day, Times Square,” “Couple at Soda Stand”), magazine cover photos and events like the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Her work is distinguished by its empathy; her pictures of children being children are magnificent.
Then cross Manhattan for a survey of Ruth Orkin’s photographs, including her most famous, “An American Girl in Italy,” at Fotografiska.RUTH ORKIN – EXPRESSIONS OF LIFE
Through Dec. 5. Fotografiska, 281 Park Avenue South, Manhattan. fotografiska.com/nyc
Ruth Orkin’s most famous picture was staged in Florence. Learning from a young American student how Italian men ogled and catcalled women, Orkin posed her in a picturesque but slightly seedy setting, looking straight ahead with an uncomfortable expression as she passed a gantlet of male bystanders. Taken in 1951, the picture offers a feminist rejoinder to a celebrated Richard Avedon image made four years earlier, of a Dior fashion model standing in Paris’s decorous Place de la Concorde, as three appreciative but respectful young men stride by.
Marking the centenary of Orkin’s birth, “Expressions of Life” documents the achievement of a trailblazing female photographer who, with her husband, Morris Engel, also made a charming movie, “Little Fugitive,” that foreshadowed the French New Wave. (A newly published monograph, Ruth Orkin: A Photo Spirit, offers a fuller survey of her work.)
Orkin photographed celebrities, young lovers, fellow New Yorkers and inhabitants of the new state of Israel. But where she truly excelled was in her shots of children. Indeed, only Helen Levitt rivals her in that category. This exhibition features a delightful sequence, also from 1952, of three children playing cards, which was the only photographic group in the landmark “Family of Man” show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1955.
B&H Photo’s Explora Blog: A Photographic Legacy from Ruth Orkin to Her Daughter
Photo District News editor and technical photography author Jill Waterman has just written a wonderful article about Ruth Orkin’s photo legacy over in the B&H Photo Explora Blog. The article entitled “Continuity of Purpose: A Photographic Legacy from Ruth Orkin to Her Daughter” explores the relationship between Ruth Orkin and …
The Woman in the Window in AIRMAIL 4/18/20
LINK https://airmail.news/issues/2020-4-18/the-woman-in-the-window BEST OF THE NEWS FROM ABROAD EVERY SATURDAY ARRIVING AT 6:00 AM APRIL 18 2020 Top, Ruth Orkin at work, leaning out the window of her Central Park West apartment, 1978; above, Sunlit Streets, NYC, 1977. Top, Philharmonic Concert, NYC, 1979; above, Start of First NYC Marathon, 1970. Top, Superman in Macys Parade, …
Ruth Orkin in group show at The National Gallery of Art
Photo copyright Ruth Orkin NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART THE CITY – opened February 20, 2020 American Art, 1900–1950: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Towering skyscrapers, massive steel bridges, and the hubbub of city streets captivated artists working in the first half of the twentieth century. Roaming the rapidly changing urban environment, …
I Love the Upper West Side – April 2020
Nice mention of Ruth’s window photographs which were the subjects of two books A WORLD THROUGH MY WINDOW and MORE PICTURES FROM MY WINDOW. Ruth Orkin shooting from the window, 1978 copyright Jerry LaPlante ILOVETHEUPPERWESTSIDE.COM Looking Out With A Camera – I Love The Upper West Side In ordinary …
PROOF: Photography in the Age of the Contact Sheet
PROOF: PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE AGE OF THE CONTACT SHEET exhibition opened on February 7, 2020 at the Cleveland Art Museum. The exhibition includes Ruth Orkin’s American Girl in Italy proof sheet as an oversize wall graphic and in the exhibition, and Morris Engel’s sequence from “Little Fugitive”. www.clevelandart.org/exhibitions/
Ruth Orkin in group show at the Tampa Museum of Art
Modern Women: Modern Vision Works from the Bank of America Collection On view February 20 through May 24, 2020 George Washington Bridge, Riverside Dr. & 179th Street, Manhattan, 1936 Berenice Abbott (American, 1898-1991), Gelatin silver print. 9 3/8 x 7 5/8 inches. Bank of America Collection. Since photography’s inception in …
Marion Anderson exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery
Marion Anderson exhibition from June 28, 2019 – May 17, 2020 at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. “One Life: Marian Anderson” shifts the attention from Anderson’s historic 1939 performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to under explored moments in the contralto’s career. The exhibition examines the …
Mary Engel in segment on WNYC – ALL OF IT 3/30/19
I was on the radio briefly today on WNYC’s “ALL OF IT” hosted by Allison Stewart, as they were doing a segment on women traveling alone. I called in to discuss Ruth’s travels and “American Girl in Italy”. I am on from 20:50 – …
Ruth Orkin photo of Jane Jacobs in GUTSY WOMEN new book by Hilary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton
Overview Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, share the stories of the gutsy women who have inspired them–women with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done.She couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old. “Go ahead, ask …
Jackie Robinson’s 100th Birthday exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York
Happy Birthday Jackie Robinson on what would have been his 100th Birthday! Photos copyright Ruth Orkin Honoring the birth of a legend. https://www.mcny.org/exhibition/dugout-jackie-robinson In 1947 Jackie Robinson made history when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and became the first African American in Major League Baseball. In honor of the centennial of Robinson’s birth, In …