Esther Bubley
Encyclopedia
Esther Bubley was an American
photographer who specialized in expressive photos of ordinary people in everyday lives.
, the fourth of five children of Russian-Jewish immigrants Louis and Ida Bubley
. In 1936, while Esther was a senior at Central High School in Superior, Wisconsin
, the photo magazine Life
first hit the newsstands. Inspired by the magazine, and particularly by the pictures of the Great Depression
produced by the Farm Security Administration
, she developed a passion for photojournalism
and documentary photography
. As editor-in-chief of the yearbook, she sought to emulate the style of Life. After high school, Esther spent two years at Superior State Teachers College (now the University of Wisconsin–Superior
) before enrolling in the one-year photography program at the Minneapolis School of Art (now the Minneapolis College of Art and Design
).
After college in 1941, Bubley moved to Washington, D.C.
seeking work as a photographer. Failing to find a job in Washington, Bubley moved to New York City
. During the 1941 Christmas season, she landed a position at Vogue in New York, but she didn't like the work. Early in 1942, she returned to Washington when she was offered a job as a microfilmer for the National Archives and Records Administration
.
In the fall of 1942, Roy Stryker
hired her as a darkroom assistant at the Office of War Information (OWI), where his photographic unit had recently been transferred from the Farm Security Administration. With the encouragement of Stryker and some of the more senior photographers she moved to taking pictures for the OWI historical section, documenting life on the home front during the war. Her most challenging assignment was a noted series on the bus system in the Midwest and South.
In late 1943, when Stryker left the OWI to work on a public relations project for the Standard Oil
Company (New Jersey), she accompanied him, along with other photographers, including Gordon Parks
and John Vachon
. The Bus Story series she produced for Standard Oil, a reprise of her earlier Bus Story for the OWI, earned the award for Best Picture Sequence in the Encyclopædia Britannica
/University of Missouri
School of Journalism "News Pictures of the Year" in 1948. During this period, she was briefly married to Edwin Locke, Stryker's administrative chief, but they soon divorced.
By 1947, Bubley was expanding her horizons beyond Stryker and Standard Oil. She began working for the Children's Bureau, a Federal child welfare agency. Over the next several years, she contributed thousands of images to their files, and her work appeared on more than 30 covers of their journal The Child.
In 1949, Bubley's photo essay on mental illness for the Ladies' Home Journal
was given the first place award for a feature in the Encyclopædia Britannica/University of Missouri School of Journalism contest, winning Bubley a second set of the Encyclopedia. She continued working for the Ladies' Home Journal, producing a dozen photo stories for their celebrated series "How America Lives," which ran intermittently between 1948 and 1960.
In 1951, Bubley started freelancing for Life, eventually contributing 40 photo stories, including two cover stories. Bubley was one of the first women to successfully support herself working as a freelance photographer for the major magazines.
In 1951, she also produced a notable series on the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital for Stryker, who was then establishing the Pittsburgh Photographic Library. Edward Steichen
, Directory of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art
(MoMA), used 13 prints from this series in the 1952 exhibition Diogenese with a Camera. He also mounted and displayed her contact sheets to show how she used every frame. This series led to medical themes becoming a major part of her portfolio. In 1953, she was hired by UNICEF and the French government
to travel to Morocco
to photograph a program to treat trachoma
, an infectious disease that causes blindness. Bubley entered a photo from this assignment in the international division of a contest sponsored by Photography magazine in 1954. She became the first woman to win first place, and she received a trophy depicting a male photographer.
In 1955, Steichen included her work in his monumental The Family of Man
exhibition.
In 1956, Pepsi-Cola International hired Bubley to cover Latin America
for their company magazine Panorama. In the mid-1960s, Pan American World Airways
sent her around the world twice to make images for their corporate photographic library.
In the late 1960s, Bubley reduced her workload as sales of photographic magazines declined, and she wearied of the grueling travel schedule. She spent more time at home in New York City where she pursued projects of personal interest, producing two children's books about animals and a book featuring macro photography
of plants.
A devoted animal lover, she spent her mornings in Central Park
walking her dog, taking photographs, and making notes that she hoped to turn into a book about the park. In 1991 the Minneapolis College of Art and Design
awarded Bubley an honorary doctorate. She died in New York City
, of cancer, on March 16, 1998.
In 2001 a retrospective exhibition of Bubley's work appeared at the UBS Art Gallery in New York City. In 2005 Aperture Foundation published a monograph about Bubley, Esther Bubley: On Assignment by photographic historian Bonnie Yochelson with Tracy A. Schmid, archivist for the Bubley Estate. In 2010, the Library of Congress published the monograph Fields of Vision: The Photographs of Esther Bubley.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
photographer who specialized in expressive photos of ordinary people in everyday lives.
Biography
Esther Bubley was born February 16, 1921 in Phillips, WisconsinPhillips, Wisconsin
Phillips is a city in Price County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,675 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Price County.-Geography:Phillips is located at...
, the fourth of five children of Russian-Jewish immigrants Louis and Ida Bubley
Bubley
Bubley is a very unusual family name, believed to originate in Russia. It has now spread to Germany, the United States, Britain, and South Africa....
. In 1936, while Esther was a senior at Central High School in Superior, Wisconsin
Superior, Wisconsin
Superior is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 26,960 at the 2010 census. Located at the junction of U.S. Highways 2 and 53, it is north of and adjacent to both the Village of Superior and the Town of Superior.Superior is at the western...
, the photo magazine Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
first hit the newsstands. Inspired by the magazine, and particularly by the pictures of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
produced by 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...
, she developed a passion for photojournalism
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...
and documentary photography
Documentary photography
Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle significant and historical events. It is typically covered in professional photojournalism, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit...
. As editor-in-chief of the yearbook, she sought to emulate the style of Life. After high school, Esther spent two years at Superior State Teachers College (now the University of Wisconsin–Superior
University of Wisconsin–Superior
The University of Wisconsin–Superior is a public university located in Superior, Wisconsin. UW–Superior grants bachelor's, master's, and specialist's degrees...
) before enrolling in the one-year photography program at the Minneapolis School of Art (now the Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit four-year and postgraduate college specializing in the visual arts. Located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, MCAD currently enrolls approximately 1,000 students offering curriculum that includes...
).
After college in 1941, Bubley moved to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
seeking work as a photographer. Failing to find a job in Washington, Bubley moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. During the 1941 Christmas season, she landed a position at Vogue in New York, but she didn't like the work. Early in 1942, she returned to Washington when she was offered a job as a microfilmer for the National Archives and Records Administration
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
.
In the fall of 1942, Roy Stryker
Roy Stryker
Roy Emerson Stryker was an American economist, government official, and photographer. He is most famous for heading the Information Division of the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression and launching the documentary photography movement of the FSA.After serving in the infantry...
hired her as a darkroom assistant at the Office of War Information (OWI), where his photographic unit had recently been transferred from the Farm Security Administration. With the encouragement of Stryker and some of the more senior photographers she moved to taking pictures for the OWI historical section, documenting life on the home front during the war. Her most challenging assignment was a noted series on the bus system in the Midwest and South.
Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
Company (New Jersey), she accompanied him, along with other photographers, including Gordon Parks
Gordon Parks
Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was a groundbreaking American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist and film director...
and John Vachon
John Vachon
-External links:*...
. The Bus Story series she produced for Standard Oil, a reprise of her earlier Bus Story for the OWI, earned the award for Best Picture Sequence in the Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
/University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
School of Journalism "News Pictures of the Year" in 1948. During this period, she was briefly married to Edwin Locke, Stryker's administrative chief, but they soon divorced.
By 1947, Bubley was expanding her horizons beyond Stryker and Standard Oil. She began working for the Children's Bureau, a Federal child welfare agency. Over the next several years, she contributed thousands of images to their files, and her work appeared on more than 30 covers of their journal The Child.
In 1949, Bubley's photo essay on mental illness for the Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...
was given the first place award for a feature in the Encyclopædia Britannica/University of Missouri School of Journalism contest, winning Bubley a second set of the Encyclopedia. She continued working for the Ladies' Home Journal, producing a dozen photo stories for their celebrated series "How America Lives," which ran intermittently between 1948 and 1960.
In 1951, Bubley started freelancing for Life, eventually contributing 40 photo stories, including two cover stories. Bubley was one of the first women to successfully support herself working as a freelance photographer for the major magazines.
In 1951, she also produced a notable series on the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital for Stryker, who was then establishing the Pittsburgh Photographic Library. 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...
, Directory of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
(MoMA), used 13 prints from this series in the 1952 exhibition Diogenese with a Camera. He also mounted and displayed her contact sheets to show how she used every frame. This series led to medical themes becoming a major part of her portfolio. In 1953, she was hired by UNICEF and the French government
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to travel to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
to photograph a program to treat trachoma
Trachoma
Trachoma is an infectious disease causing a characteristic roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. Also called granular conjunctivitis and Egyptian ophthalmia, it is the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world...
, an infectious disease that causes blindness. Bubley entered a photo from this assignment in the international division of a contest sponsored by Photography magazine in 1954. She became the first woman to win first place, and she received a trophy depicting a male photographer.
In 1955, Steichen included her work in his monumental The Family of Man
The Family of Man
The Family of Man was a photography exhibition curated by Edward Steichen first shown in 1955 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.According to Steichen, the exhibition represented the 'culmination of his career'. The 508 photos by 273 photographers in 68 countries were selected from almost 2...
exhibition.
In 1956, Pepsi-Cola International hired Bubley to cover Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
for their company magazine Panorama. In the mid-1960s, Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
sent her around the world twice to make images for their corporate photographic library.
In the late 1960s, Bubley reduced her workload as sales of photographic magazines declined, and she wearied of the grueling travel schedule. She spent more time at home in New York City where she pursued projects of personal interest, producing two children's books about animals and a book featuring macro photography
Macro photography
Macrophotography is close-up photography, usually of very small subjects. Classically a macrophotograph is one in which the size of the subject on the negative is greater than life size. However in modern use it refers to a finished photograph of a subject at greater than life size...
of plants.
A devoted animal lover, she spent her mornings in Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
walking her dog, taking photographs, and making notes that she hoped to turn into a book about the park. In 1991 the Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit four-year and postgraduate college specializing in the visual arts. Located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, MCAD currently enrolls approximately 1,000 students offering curriculum that includes...
awarded Bubley an honorary doctorate. She died in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, of cancer, on March 16, 1998.
In 2001 a retrospective exhibition of Bubley's work appeared at the UBS Art Gallery in New York City. In 2005 Aperture Foundation published a monograph about Bubley, Esther Bubley: On Assignment by photographic historian Bonnie Yochelson with Tracy A. Schmid, archivist for the Bubley Estate. In 2010, the Library of Congress published the monograph Fields of Vision: The Photographs of Esther Bubley.
Selected exhibitions
- Children's Hospital 1951: Photographs by Esther Bubley, Frick Art & Historical CenterFrick Art & Historical CenterThe Frick Art & Historical Center is a cluster of museums and historical buildings located at 7227 Reynolds Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States and collectively known as "Clayton"...
, Pittsburgh, PA, 2009. - Breaking the Frame: Pioneering Women in Photojournalism, Museum of Photographic ArtsMuseum of Photographic ArtsThe Museum of Photographic Arts or MoPA is a museum in San Diego’s Balboa Park. First founded in 1974, MoPA opened in 1983. MoPA is one of three museums in the US dedicated exclusively to the collection and preservation of photography, with a mission to inspire, educate and engage the broadest...
, San Diego, CA, 2006. - Esther Bubley: American Photojournalist, UBS Art Gallery, New York, NY, 2001.
- The American Century: Art & Culture 1900–1950, Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American ArtThe Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, New York, NY, 1999. - Photographs by Esther Bubley, Phillips CollectionPhillips CollectionThe Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the grandson of James H...
, Washington, DC, 1995. - Esther Bubley: On Assignment, Photographs Since 1939, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 1990.
- On Assignment: Documentary Photographs from the 1930’s and 1940’s by Marion Post Wolcott and Esther Bubley, Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, Chicago, IL, 1989. - Documenting America, 1935–1943, Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, Washington, DC, 1988. - Out of the Forties, Amon Carter MuseumAmon Carter MuseumThe Amon Carter Museum of American Art is located in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established by Amon G. Carter to house his collection of paintings and sculpture by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Carter’s will provided a museum in Fort Worth devoted to American art.When the museum opened...
, Fort Worth, TX, 1983. - Esther Bubley, Limelight Gallery, New York, NY, 1956.
- Family of Man, Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, New York, NY, 1955. - Diogenes with a Camera, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1952.
- Six Women Photographers, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1950.
- In and Out of Focus, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1948.
Awards
- Honorary doctorate, Minneapolis College of Art and DesignMinneapolis College of Art and DesignMinneapolis College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit four-year and postgraduate college specializing in the visual arts. Located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, MCAD currently enrolls approximately 1,000 students offering curriculum that includes...
, 1991. - First Award, Art Directors Club, 1958.
- First Prize, Photography Magazine, International Contest, 1954.
- Third Prize, Life magazine contest for young photographers, 1951.
- First awards from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
, 1948 and 1949. - Distinctive Merit, Art Directors Club, 1943.
Monographs
- Zoo pals: Big cats, great apes—a look at zoo life, January 1, 1960
- How Puppies Grow, 1971, Millicent E. Selsam (Author), Esther Bubley (Illustrator), ISBN 978-0-590-40974-2
- How Kittens Grow, 1973, Millicent E. Selsam, ISBN 978-0-590-07409-4
- A Mysterious Presence: Macrophotography of Plants, text by Percy Knauth, July 1979, ISBN 978-0-911104-99-8
- Esther Bubley's World of Children in Photographs, June 1982, ISBN 978-0-8446-5880-3
- Charlie Parker, November 1995, Hank O'Neal (Text), Esther Bubley (Photographer), ISBN 978-2-85018-223-5
- Esther Bubley: On Assignment, April 2005, Bonnie Yochelson, ISBN 978-1-931788-57-1
- Fields of Vision: The Photographs of Esther Bubley, March 2010, Amy Pastan (series editor), ISBN 978-1-904832-48-5
Further reading
- Black & White & Noir. Paula Rabinowitz, Columbia University PressColumbia University PressColumbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by James D. Jordan and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology,...
, New York, NY, 2002. - The Faces of Photography: Encounters With 50 Master Photographers. Tina Ruisinger and Ted Croner, Edition Stemmle, Zürich, 2002.
- Making Connections: The Long-Distance Bus Industry in the USA. Margaret Walsh, Ashgate Publishing, 2000.
- Witness to the Fifties: The Pittsburgh Photographic Library, 1950–1953. Constance B. Schulz and Steven W. Plattner, eds. The University of Pittsburgh PressUniversity of Pittsburgh PressThe University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States....
, Pittsburgh, PA, 1999. - Out of the Forties. Nicolas Lemann, Texas Monthly Press, Austin, TX 1983, reprint Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.
- A History of Women Photographers. Naomi RosenblumNaomi RosenblumNaomi Rosenblum is a historian of photography, best known for A World History of Photography and A History of Women Photographers...
, Abbeville Press, New York, NY, 1994. - Documenting America 1935–1945. Carl Fleischauer and Beverly W. Brannan, eds. University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
and Library of Congress, Berkeley, CA, 1988. - The Highway As Habitat: A Roy Stryker Documentation, 1943–1955. Ulrich Keller, University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA, 1986.
- Let Us Now Praise Famous Women: Women Photographers for the U.S. Government 1935 to 1944. Andrea Fisher, Pandora Press, New York, NY 1987.
- Roy Stryker, U.S.A. 1943-1950,. Steven W. Plattner, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 1983.
- In This Proud Land: America 1935–1943 As Seen in the FSA Photographs. Roy E. Stryker and Nancy Wood, New York Graphic Society Ltd., Greenwich, CT, 1973.
External links
- Esther Bubley official website
- Women Photojournalists: Esther Bubley (Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress)
- Women Come to the Front (Library of Congress Exhibition) covering her World War II career
- The Photographers : Esther Bubley Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
- Photography Review, The New York Times, August 17, 2001
- Private Eye Smithsonian Magazine, March 2004
- Esther Bubley: A Life in Photography a brief documentary video [9:22]
- That's Pediatrics documentary video about Bubley's Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh images [21:59]