Charles Fenno Jacobs
Encyclopedia
Charles Fenno Jacobs was an American photographer in the mid-20th century.
Shortly after the Japan
ese attack on Pearl Harbor
, Edward Steichen
recruited Jacobs to join his Naval Aviation Photographic Unit
. The U.S. Navy had established this special group to document and publicize its aviation activities and allowed Steichen to recruit the most talented photographers he could find. By 1941 Jacobs had already established a reputation as a photographer, having worked for Life, Fortune, and U.S. Camera magazines and briefly for the Farm Security Administration
. Jacobs, like the other photographers in the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, followed Steichen's advice to concentrate on the human side of modern war. He photographed aircraft workers in California
, capturing the then novel sight of female factory workers. On another assignment he photographed life aboard the battleship USS New Jersey
, shooting the activities of the crew off- and on-duty. Other of Jacobs's images capture the earnestness of young aviation cadets, the humiliation of a Japanese prisoner of war on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and melancholy scenes of Navy pilots on leave with their dates. His photos incorporate wit, keen observation and empathy. His photograph of an African-American woman on a bench grieving Roosevelt's death is iconic. When the war ended, Jacobs and two of his colleagues, Horace Bristol
and Victor Jorgensen
, still dressed in uniforms, walked into the offices of Fortune and boldly proposed that the magazine hire them, and assign each a different part of the world as his beat. The magazine agreed and Jacobs was assigned to cover Europe
in the immediate postwar years.
He photographed the airlift to Berlin, German post-war politics and landscape, the industrial Ruhr and indelible images of the ruined German cities. He spent time in eastern Europe, documenting life under Communism, as well as in France, Italy and the British Isles. As a bon vivant, connoisseur of wine and fine liquor and a truly dedicated gourmet, he made sure to track down the best in culinary experiences wherever he went and boasted that he spent the bulk of his income on these activities. He was also a fine cook in his own right and would sweep into a household, commandeer the kitchen, bringing in his own pots and pans and prepare meals in situ for whatever family he chose so to honor.
A photograph of Jacobs was in the Family of Man exhibition, created by Edward Steichen in 1955 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which resulted in a book of the same name. Since then Jacobs' work has appeared in several major shows and a book Steichen at War: The Navy's Pacific Air Battles.
In later life, Jacobs opened two restaurants, one on Maryland's Eastern Shore—grudgingly frying up hamburgers when obliged to instead of his wonderful soft shelled crabs with smithfield ham or chicken à la Maryland—and one in Marlboro, Vermont, where he fed, among others, the members of the Budapest Quartet and pianist Rudolph Serkin. A glowing review in the New York Times by Craig Claiborne provided him with customers for a summer. Later he became an editor on a tony yachting magazine named Skipper based in Annapolis, Maryland, whose chief editor was Victor Jorgensen, fellow Navy photographer and longtime friend. A lover of yachting who once took his first wife down the Mississippi River, Jacobs bought a beautiful Old Matthews 42 foot yacht on which he traveled down the inland waterway to Florida. He lived on the boat several years with his third wife, Gloria. They were divorced but remained close friends for the rest of their lives.
He eventually and reluctantly retired and he died suddenly in Englewood, New Jersey, with his then partner, Helen Herbstman.
Biography
Jacobs was born in Waltham, Massachusetts. His Dutch-descended father was a steamfitter. An enfant terrible extraordinaire, he did not graduate from high school and rumor has it he dropped out or was expelled in 8th grade. In spite of this, he got a first class education on the fly, read a great deal of contemporary literature, met almost everyone of the period worth knowing and was a fine journalistic writer. His older sister Frances reports that he was the red-headed scourge of the neighborhood as a child. Reaching his majority, he joined the Merchant Marines and travelled the world for a period of years. After leaving the Merchant Marines, he moved to New York where he married his first wife, Kit, and began his career as a photographer by taking pictures for a commercial real estate firm. With his first 35mm camera, he also began taking candid shots of New Yorkers and of New York and began haunting magazine offices, offering to work for practically nothing, according to his third wife, Gloria, who was at the time of their meeting a Fortune magazine researcher. His particular talent was in catching his subjects at their most revealing moments to make unforgettable images. Displaying uncommon talent and lots of chutzpah, he became a photographer for Time, Inc. and was soon travelling as a photographer throughout South America as well as the United States, taking pictures that wound up in Life, National Geographic, U.S. Camera and Fortune. Some of his more memorable photos were of the Mexico City flower market and agave fields in Mexico, a Bolivian toddler on the back of her mother, one large black eye fixed on the photographer, a down-at-heels banana dictator in a gilt-braided uniform, and his color covers for Fortune were always striking. He married his second wife, Marjorie Kent, in New York in 1941 and they had two daughters, Shelley Isom and Kathe Stolz.Shortly after the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, Edward Steichen
Edward Steichen
Edward J. Steichen was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. He was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz' groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Steichen also contributed the logo design and a custom typeface...
recruited Jacobs to join his Naval Aviation Photographic Unit
Naval Aviation Photographic Unit
The Naval Aviation Photographic Unit was a group of military photographers in the United States Navy during the Second World War, under the command of Edward Steichen.-History:...
. The U.S. Navy had established this special group to document and publicize its aviation activities and allowed Steichen to recruit the most talented photographers he could find. By 1941 Jacobs had already established a reputation as a photographer, having worked for Life, Fortune, and U.S. Camera magazines and briefly for the Farm Security Administration
Farm Security Administration
Initially created as the Resettlement Administration in 1935 as part of the New Deal in the United States, the Farm Security Administration was an effort during the Depression to combat American rural poverty...
. Jacobs, like the other photographers in the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, followed Steichen's advice to concentrate on the human side of modern war. He photographed aircraft workers in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, capturing the then novel sight of female factory workers. On another assignment he photographed life aboard the battleship USS New Jersey
USS New Jersey (BB-62)
USS New Jersey , is an , and was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of New Jersey. New Jersey earned more battle stars for combat actions than the other three completed Iowa-class battleships, and is the only U.S...
, shooting the activities of the crew off- and on-duty. Other of Jacobs's images capture the earnestness of young aviation cadets, the humiliation of a Japanese prisoner of war on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and melancholy scenes of Navy pilots on leave with their dates. His photos incorporate wit, keen observation and empathy. His photograph of an African-American woman on a bench grieving Roosevelt's death is iconic. When the war ended, Jacobs and two of his colleagues, Horace Bristol
Horace Bristol
Horace Bristol was a twentieth century American photographer, best known for his work in Life. His photos appeared in Time, Fortune, Sunset, and National Geographic magazines.-Early life:...
and Victor Jorgensen
Victor Jorgensen
Victor Jorgensen is a former Navy photo journalist who probably is most famous for taking a photograph of an impromptu scene in Manhattan on August 14, 1945, but from a different angle and in a less dramatic exposure than that of a photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Both photographs were of...
, still dressed in uniforms, walked into the offices of Fortune and boldly proposed that the magazine hire them, and assign each a different part of the world as his beat. The magazine agreed and Jacobs was assigned to cover Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in the immediate postwar years.
He photographed the airlift to Berlin, German post-war politics and landscape, the industrial Ruhr and indelible images of the ruined German cities. He spent time in eastern Europe, documenting life under Communism, as well as in France, Italy and the British Isles. As a bon vivant, connoisseur of wine and fine liquor and a truly dedicated gourmet, he made sure to track down the best in culinary experiences wherever he went and boasted that he spent the bulk of his income on these activities. He was also a fine cook in his own right and would sweep into a household, commandeer the kitchen, bringing in his own pots and pans and prepare meals in situ for whatever family he chose so to honor.
A photograph of Jacobs was in the Family of Man exhibition, created by Edward Steichen in 1955 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which resulted in a book of the same name. Since then Jacobs' work has appeared in several major shows and a book Steichen at War: The Navy's Pacific Air Battles.
In later life, Jacobs opened two restaurants, one on Maryland's Eastern Shore—grudgingly frying up hamburgers when obliged to instead of his wonderful soft shelled crabs with smithfield ham or chicken à la Maryland—and one in Marlboro, Vermont, where he fed, among others, the members of the Budapest Quartet and pianist Rudolph Serkin. A glowing review in the New York Times by Craig Claiborne provided him with customers for a summer. Later he became an editor on a tony yachting magazine named Skipper based in Annapolis, Maryland, whose chief editor was Victor Jorgensen, fellow Navy photographer and longtime friend. A lover of yachting who once took his first wife down the Mississippi River, Jacobs bought a beautiful Old Matthews 42 foot yacht on which he traveled down the inland waterway to Florida. He lived on the boat several years with his third wife, Gloria. They were divorced but remained close friends for the rest of their lives.
He eventually and reluctantly retired and he died suddenly in Englewood, New Jersey, with his then partner, Helen Herbstman.