Ruth Orkin was an award-winning photojournalist and filmmaker.
Orkin was the only child of Mary Ruby, a silent-film actress, and Samuel Orkin, a manufacturer of toy boats called Orkin Craft. She grew up in Hollywood in the heyday of the 1920s and 1930s. At the age of 10, she received her first camera, a 39 cent Univex. She began by photographing her friends and teachers at school. At 17 years old she took a monumental bicycle trip across the United States from Los Angeles to New York City to see the 1939 World’s Fair, and she photographed along the way.
Orkin moved to NY in 1943, where she worked as a nightclub photographer and shot baby photographs in order to save up to buy her first professional camera. She worked for all the major magazines in the 1940's. She also photographed many of the greastest musicians of the time, including Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern, Aaron Copland and many others.
In 1951, LIFE magazine sent her to Israel with the Israeli Philarmonic. Orkin then went to Italy, and it was in Florence she met Nina Lee Craig, an art student and fellow American, who became the subject for her iconic photo, "American Girl in Italy. The photo was part of a series, which aimed to document what women encountered as they travelled alone in Europe after the war. This happens to be one of my fave photos of all time. I just love everything about it. Every time i walk past the copy i have in my hallway, i have to stop and gaze at it, it's power to stop me in my tracks doesn't seem to have diminished over time. If anything it's the opposite.
Orkin moved to NY in 1943, where she worked as a nightclub photographer and shot baby photographs in order to save up to buy her first professional camera. She worked for all the major magazines in the 1940's. She also photographed many of the greastest musicians of the time, including Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern, Aaron Copland and many others.
In 1951, LIFE magazine sent her to Israel with the Israeli Philarmonic. Orkin then went to Italy, and it was in Florence she met Nina Lee Craig, an art student and fellow American, who became the subject for her iconic photo, "American Girl in Italy. The photo was part of a series, which aimed to document what women encountered as they travelled alone in Europe after the war. This happens to be one of my fave photos of all time. I just love everything about it. Every time i walk past the copy i have in my hallway, i have to stop and gaze at it, it's power to stop me in my tracks doesn't seem to have diminished over time. If anything it's the opposite.
She received an Academy Award on her return to NY in 1953 for the film "The Little Fugitive and continued to photograph consistently until her death in 1963. The changing landscape and seasons outside her NY appartment where a constant source of inspiration for Orkin and are simply stunning.
I can't seem to turn off the underline-y thing, grrrr!! Sorry folks.
Let's have some more fab Orkin photos to marvel at shall we??
I can't seem to turn off the underline-y thing, grrrr!! Sorry folks.
Let's have some more fab Orkin photos to marvel at shall we??
I still can't turn this flippin'thing off, any suggestons? Answers on a postcard please. Do not underline your name and address, or i will get rather cross.
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