Ruth Orkin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ruth Orkin
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| Born | September 3, 1921 Boston, Massachusetts
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| Died | January 16, 1985 (aged 63) New York City
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | Photojournalism at Los Angeles City College |
| Known for | Photography, filmmaking |
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Notable work
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American Girl in Italy (1951), Little Fugitive (1952), Lovers and Lollipops (1955) |
| Spouse(s) | Morris Engel |
Ruth Orkin (September 3, 1921 – January 16, 1985) was an American photographer, photojournalist, and filmmaker, with ties to New York City and Hollywood. Best known for her photograph An American Girl in Italy (1951), she photographed many celebrities and personalities including Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Ava Gardner, Tennessee Williams, Marlon Brando, and Alfred Hitchcock.
Life
Ruth Orkin was born on September 3, 1921 in Boston, Massachusetts to Mary Ruby and Samuel Orkin. Ruth grew up in Hollywood, due to her mother's career as a silent film actress. In 1931, she received her first camera, a 39-cent Univex, and soon began experimenting by taking photographs of her friends and teachers at school. At the age of 17, she decided to bike across America, beginning in Los Angeles, and ending in New York City for the 1939 World's Fair. She completed the trip in three weeks' time, taking photographs along the way.
She briefly attended Los Angeles City College for photojournalism in 1940, prior to becoming the first messenger girl at MGM Studios in 1941, citing a desire to become a cinematographer. She left the position after discovering the union's discriminatory practices that did not allow female members. She joined the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps during World War II, in 1941 in an attempt to gain filmmaking skills, as advertisements promoting the group promised. The attempt was not fruitful, however, and she was discharged in 1943 without any filmmaking training.
In 1943, Orkin moved to New York City in pursuit of a career as a freelance photojournalist. She began working as a nightclub photographer, and received her first assignment in 1945 from The New York Times to shoot Leonard Bernstein. Shortly after, her freelance career grew as she traveled internationally on assignments and contributed photographs to Life, Look, Ladies' Home Journal, and others. Orkin is credited with breaking into a heavily male field.
Orkin's most celebrated image is An American Girl in Italy (1951). The subject of the now-iconic photograph was the 23-year-old Ninalee Craig (known at that time as Jinx Allen). The photograph was part of a series originally titled "Don't Be Afraid to Travel Alone." The image depicted Craig as a young woman confidently walking past a group of ogling Italian men in Florence. In recent articles written about the pair, Craig claims that the image was not staged, and was one of many taken throughout the day, aiming to show the fun of traveling alone.
In 1952 Orkin married photographer, filmmaker and fellow Photo League member Morris Engel. Orkin and Engel collaborated on two major independent feature films, "Little Fugitive" (1953) and "Lovers and Lollipops" (1955). After the success of the two films, Orkin returned to photography, taking color shots of Central Park as seen through her apartment window. The resulting photographs were collected in two books, "A World Through My Window" (1978) and "More Pictures from My Window" (1983).
Orkin taught photography at the School of Visual Arts in the late 1970s, and at the International Center of Photography in 1980. After a long, private battle with cancer, Orkin died of the disease at her New York City apartment on January 16, 1985.
Exhibitions
Lists of solo and group exhibitions are taken directly from the Ruth Orkin Photo Archive Career page.
Solo exhibitions
1974
- Nikon House, New York, NY
1977
- Witkin Gallery, New York, NY
- Enjoy Gallery, Boston
1978
- Milwaukee Center of Photography, Milwaukee
- Kiva Gallery, Boston
1979
- University of Akron, Ohio
- Afterimage Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1979-1985
- Rizzoli Gallery, NY
1980
- Atlanta Gallery of Photography, Atlanta, Georgia
1981
- Witkin Gallery, New York, NY
1982
- Douglas Elliot Galler, San Francisco
1983
- Equivalents Gallery, Seattle, Washington
1985
- Witkin Gallery, New York, NY
1990
- Photo Gallery International, Tokyo, Japan
1994
- Witkin Gallery, New York, NY
1995
- International Center of Photography, NY
1998
- Michael Lord Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
- Irving Galleries, Palm Beach, FL
1999
- Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, NY
- Jan Kesner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2002
- Tom Blau Gallery, London, England
- Sag Harbor Picture Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
2005
- Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, NY
2007
- Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto, Canada
- Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, England
- Cavalier Galleries, Nantucket, MA
- Joie de Livres Gallery, Salisbury, CT
2011
- Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto, Canada
- Lumiere Brothers, Moscow, Russia
2014
- Duncan Miller Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Fondazione Stelline, Milan, Italy
Group exhibitions
1950
- Young Photographers, Museum of Modern Art NY
- The Family of Man, Museum of Modern Art, NY
- The World and Its People, The World's Fair, NY
- Photography in the Fine Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
- Photographic Crossroads: The Photo League, SUNY, New Paltz
- Manhattan Observed, NY Historical Society
- American Images, 1945-1980, Barbican Art Gallery, London
- Collecting New York: Recent Acquisitions, Museum of City of NY
- New York: The City and Its People, Working People's Cultural Palace, Beijing, China
- Cross Examinations, Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino, California
- Masters of Starlight, LA County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
- Diamonds are Forever: Artists and Writers on Baseball, NY State Museum, Albany 1988 Master Photographs from The Photography in the Fine Arts Exhibition, ICP, NY
- The Human Element: B/W Photography, Cal State, Long Beach
- A History of Women Photographers, New York Public Library, New York, NY
- Defining Eye: Women Photographers of the 20th Century, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
- The City That Never Sleeps, Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY
- Game Face, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
- From Within, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, NY
- Photographs We Know, David Fahey Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- Jews of Brooklyn, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
- Celebrating Central Park, Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, NY
- At the Crossroads of Desire: A Times Square Centennial, AXA Gallery, New York, NY
- New York! New York!, Photographs Do Not Bend, Dallas, TX
- From Within, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, NY
- American Photographers: Fine Prints Exhibition, Photo Gallery International, Tokyo, Japan
- In Black and White: Works on Paper from the Jewish Museum Collection, New York, NY
- Acting the Part: Photography as Theatre, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
- Winter in Black and White, Monroe Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
- Women Who Shot the 20th Century, Monroe Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
- Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies, Grand Central Terminal, New York, NY
- The Women of the Photo League, Higher Pictures, New York, NY
- Shine, Photographs Do Not Bend, Dallas, TX
- The Heartbeat of Fashion, International Center of Photography, New York, NY
- Beyond Color, Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York, NY
- New York in the 40s, Tula Art Center, Atlanta, GA
- Shout Freedom, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
- Kid Kulture, Westport Arts Center, Westport, CT
- Revelations, Robert Anderson Gallery, New York, NY
- 40 Exceptional Photographs, Afterimage Gallery, Dallas, TX
- The Radical Camera: New York's Photo League 1936-1951, The Jewish Museum, New York, NY
- Eye Wonder: Women Photographers in the Bank of America Collection, Cer Modern, Ankara, Turkey
Awards
Photography
- 3rd Prize Winner, LIFE Magazine's Young Photographer's Contest, 1951
- One of Top Ten Women Photographers in the U.S., Professional Photographers of America, 1959
- 1st Annual Manhattan Cultural Award, Photography, 1980
Other
- Certificate of Merit, Municipal Art Society of New York, 1984
