bernice abbott

[jtk]

https://killerbeesting.tumblr.com/post/92848037392

Bernice Abbott

Strong portraits of strong women.

 

[Pioneer]

Thanks. I don't believe I have seen most of these before.

 

[jtk]

Thanks. I don't believe I have seen most of these before.

Right. I've only seen the very limited stuff that's pushed in pop photo etc. Don't know anything about her life and how that relates to possible evolution of her photos.
My own photos seem consistent to me, but I don't think anybody else would agree.

 

[warden]

I'm about half way through her biography by Julia Van Haaften and it's quite good. She lived a remarkable life.

 

[jtk]

I'm about half way through her biography by Julia Van Haaften and it's quite good. She lived a remarkable life.

I'll try via my city library...they're very good at remote searches...

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Julia+Van+Haaften&ref=nb_sb_noss

 

[jtk]

https://www.amazon.com/Berenice-Abb...VVNTR4D4W0P&psc=1&refRID=QH91NTAV8VVNTR4D4W0P


"

Editorial Reviews
Review


There is a unity in Abbott’s portraiture―finely presented in Steidl’s indispensible Paris Portraits: 1925-1930…the ambiguity a product of the interaction between Abbott and her sitter. Her great achievement was to capture this fleeting milieu, on neither her nor her subjects’ terms exclusively, but on the fertile middle ground. (Julian Cosma Art News)

a deeply intimate view into these quiet yet powerful photographs (Miss Rosen Feature Shoot)

The subjects of Abbott’s earliest photography project, now published in full for the first time as Paris Portraits 1925-1930, are never dull―particularly the women, who, in a dismissal of her male colleague’s efforts, she aspired to capture as more than “pretty objects.” (Prudence Peiffer The New York Review of Books)

[The book] features 115 portraits of 83 subjects that have been scanned from the original glass negatives and printed in full, as well as the final crops as Abbott intended. The juxtaposing result, as O’Neal told In Sight, allows you to “see her process. You see what she is doing. You see an artist at work.” (Karly Domb Sadof The Washington Post)

a pristine collection examining the first phase of [Abbott's] career as a portrait photographer (Lew Whittington New York Journal of Books)

Inventor, entrepreneur, and "proud proto-feminist" Berenice Abbott was many things in addition to a pioneering photographer, but Steidl's gorgeous Paris Portraits 1925–1930 focuses on this discrete body of work; it's reportedly the first in a series of Abbott titles, the rest of which can't come soon enough. (John DeFore The Hollywood Reporter)

She lived with Djuna Barnes, photographed Man Ray, and taught Marcel Duchamp how to dance. Upon the release of a book showcasing her famous Paris Portraits, we discover the woman behind the camera. (Carey Dunne Another Magazine)

...it’s the uncropped plates that turn Berenice Abbott – Paris Portraits 1925-1930 into the treasure it is, one of the finest photobooks I have come across this year. (Hank O'Neal cphmag.com)

 

[jtk]

 

[Arklatexian]

https://www.amazon.com/Berenice-Abb...VVNTR4D4W0P&psc=1&refRID=QH91NTAV8VVNTR4D4W0P


"

Editorial Reviews
Review


There is a unity in Abbott’s portraiture―finely presented in Steidl’s indispensible Paris Portraits: 1925-1930…the ambiguity a product of the interaction between Abbott and her sitter. Her great achievement was to capture this fleeting milieu, on neither her nor her subjects’ terms exclusively, but on the fertile middle ground. (Julian Cosma Art News)

a deeply intimate view into these quiet yet powerful photographs (Miss Rosen Feature Shoot)

The subjects of Abbott’s earliest photography project, now published in full for the first time as Paris Portraits 1925-1930, are never dull―particularly the women, who, in a dismissal of her male colleague’s efforts, she aspired to capture as more than “pretty objects.” (Prudence Peiffer The New York Review of Books)

[The book] features 115 portraits of 83 subjects that have been scanned from the original glass negatives and printed in full, as well as the final crops as Abbott intended. The juxtaposing result, as O’Neal told In Sight, allows you to “see her process. You see what she is doing. You see an artist at work.” (Karly Domb Sadof The Washington Post)

a pristine collection examining the first phase of [Abbott's] career as a portrait photographer (Lew Whittington New York Journal of Books)

Inventor, entrepreneur, and "proud proto-feminist" Berenice Abbott was many things in addition to a pioneering photographer, but Steidl's gorgeous Paris Portraits 1925–1930 focuses on this discrete body of work; it's reportedly the first in a series of Abbott titles, the rest of which can't come soon enough. (John DeFore The Hollywood Reporter)

She lived with Djuna Barnes, photographed Man Ray, and taught Marcel Duchamp how to dance. Upon the release of a book showcasing her famous Paris Portraits, we discover the woman behind the camera. (Carey Dunne Another Magazine)

...it’s the uncropped plates that turn Berenice Abbott – Paris Portraits 1925-1930 into the treasure it is, one of the finest photobooks I have come across this year. (Hank O'Neal cphmag.com)

Here in this group, I have read complaints that photography is/was male dominated. This makes me wonder if anyone ever reads about the history of photography. Women were very important in the early days of photography in Europe and later in North America. Especially in the later-days of the 19th century. As we see from what is written above, this extended into the 1920s, 1930s, and the 1940s with Bernice/Berenice Abbott, Margaret Bourke-White among others. Could it be that most women (and men as well) are just not as interested in or about photography as we are? Nothing wrong with that. Most hobbies and interests appeal to a minority of the population. Family snap-shots during the "golden-age" of photography were not a show of interest in the art or science of the process, except for a few "poor, misguided people", myself and maybe you.........Regards!

 

[Pioneer]

I'm about half way through her biography by Julia Van Haaften and it's quite good. She lived a remarkable life.

thanks for that reference. Was able to pick it up on abebooks for $4.

I have a lot of information about her New York photography as well as her long association with Atget's work but nothing that draws all the threads together.

When I finish this I'll look around for the book on her Paris Portraits

 

[guangong]

For years I have had her book A Guide for Better Photography. Her recommendations for cameras and equipment to buy in 1943 give a good indication of what photography was like back then. In passing let me note that she recommended the prewar Contax II over Leicas because its metal shutter would be more durable than the cloth shutter of the Leica. My 1936 Leica is going strong, working prewar Contax lacks reliability. (On the other hand, the redesigned IIa shutter is very robust). Book is illustrated with a variety of her pictures.

 

[jtk]

Here in this group, I have read complaints that photography is/was male dominated. This makes me wonder if anyone ever reads about the history of photography.."

Photrio doesn't even begin to reflect the photography of women today, or ever in the past.

It may be that Photrio "members" have read too much "history of photography," causing them to think in antique terms (continually circling around the same themes and people) rather than exploring online and in non-tourist galleries to see lively reality. I don't think Photrio as a phenomenon is sexist, but posts do seem to center by default elderly male photographers.

That Photrio has such limited female participation doesn't mean that photography is "male dominated."

 

[jtk]

I goofed. Her name is Berenice, not Bernice.

 

[steve17]

https://killerbeesting.tumblr.com/post/92848037392

Bernice Abbott

Strong portraits of strong women.

spent this morning looking at her work in the photo reading room of The Library of Congress (Madison Bldg.)

 

[DonJ]

Berenice, not Bernice.

 

[Ste_S]

https://www.fundacionmapfre.org/fundacion/en/exhibitions/casa-garriga-nogues/berenice-abbott.jsp

This is on in Barcelona at the moment with an accompanying book (Mapfre exhibition books are usually excellent).
Also includes some of the prints that Abbot did of Atget's work.

Going for my birthday in a couple of weeks, can't wait

 

[Ste_S]

I goofed. Her name is Berenice, not Bernice.

Turns out it's both. Born Bernice and changed her name to Berenice when she moved to France to appear more European.

Have been to the Barcelona exhibition and it's great. Lots of her prints spread over two floors, with perhaps her New York cityscapes standing out the most.
Nice attention to detail in the exhibition - the lift between floors has a giant wrap around print of one of her hardware shop front photos inside it.
The accompanying catalogue for the exhibition is also good.

Also worth going to in Barcelona is an August Sander exhibition, prints done from his glass plates look stunning
http://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/lavirreina/en/exhibitions/people-20th-century/356