Ruth Orkin

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Template:Short description Template:DMCA Script error: No such module "Template wrapper".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters". Ruth Orkin (September 3, 1921 – January 16, 1985) was an American photographer, photojournalist, and filmmaker, with ties to New York City and Hollywood. 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.[1]

Early life, education and early career

File:Orkin.AmericanGirl kpf.jpg
Orkin's An American Girl in Italy

Ruth Orkin was born on September 3, 1921, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Mary Ruby and Samuel Orkin.[2][3][4] Ruth grew up in Hollywood, due to her mother's career as a silent film actress.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]

She briefly attended Los Angeles City College for photojournalism in 1940,[8] 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.[9][10] She joined the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps during World War II, in 1941[5] 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.[8]

Career

Photography

In 1943, Orkin moved to New York City in pursuit of a career as a freelance photojournalist. She began working as a nightclub photographer. She photographed Leonard Bernstein in 1947 for The New York Times.[11] Shortly after, her freelance career grew as she traveled internationally on assignments and contributed photographs to Life, Look,[12] Ladies' Home Journal, and others.[11] Orkin is credited with breaking into a heavily male field.

Orkin's most-celebrated image is An American Girl in Italy (1951).[11] The subject of the later-iconic photograph was 23-year-old Ninalee Craig (known then as Jinx Allen).[5] The photograph was part of a series originally titled "Don't Be Afraid to Travel Alone."[4] The image depicted Craig as a young woman confidently walking past a group of ogling Italian men in Florence. The photo is generally recognized as having been staged. [13] However, 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.[14][15]

File:Premiere exhibition "Ruth Orkin. Retrospective".jpg
Attendees of a Ruth Orkin Retrospective in 2012

Filmmaking

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 (1956).[9]

Return to photography

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).[9]

Teaching

Orkin taught photography at the School of Visual Arts in the late 1970s, and at the International Center of Photography in 1980.[1]

Awards

Source:[16]

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

Exhibits

  • Ruth Orkin: Retrospective. Nikon House, New York City[17]
  • Ruth Orkin: Retrospective. Lumiere Brothers Center of Photography, Moscow. January, 2012 [1]
  • Ruth Orkin + Morris Engel, Fondazione Stelline, Milan, June 26–August 3, 2014 [2]
  • Retrospective, Fotografiska, New York, 2021 [3]
  • Ruth Orkin, Museo Civico di Bassano, Bassano del Grappa, Italy. 2022 [4]
  • Mostra Ruth Orkin, una nuova scoperta. Musei Reali, Turin. March 17 – July 16, 2023 [5]
  • Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. December 12, 2025 – March 29, 2026[18]

Bibliography, filmography

Books

Films

Personal life

She and husband, Morris Engel, had two children: Andy and Mary Engel. After a long, private battle with cancer, Orkin died of the disease at her New York City apartment on January 16, 1985.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Career". Ruth Orkin Photo Archive. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sam Orkin's Navy".
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Samuel Orkin Boat Ship Battleship 1914 Catalog reproduction | #526782494".
  4. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Biography". Ruth Orkin Photo Archive. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Fondiller, Henry V. (May 1985). "Ruth Orkin, 1921-1985". Popular Photography. 92 (5): 156. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Biography". Ruth Orkin Photo Archive. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Style of Sport features Ruth's Bicycle Trip from 1939". www.orkinphoto.com. November 4, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  8. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Svendsgaard, Lisabeth G. (n.d.). "Ruth Orkin". American National Biography Online. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Grundberg, Andy (January 17, 1985). "RUTH ORKIN, PHOTOJOURNALIST AND FILM MAKER, DEAD AT 63". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."30 By 30: Patt Blue / Ruth Orkin | Professional Women Photographers Blog". www.pwponline.org. March 28, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  11. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Morgan, Ann Lee (2007). The Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195373219.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Koszarski, Richard (2021). "Keep 'Em in the East": Kazan, Kubrick, and the Postwar New York Film Renaissance. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 336.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ackerberg, Erica (March 22, 2024). "She Started With a 39-Cent Camera. She Ended Up in Magazines". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Coffey, LT (August 18, 2011). "At 83, subject of 'American Girl in Italy' photo speaks out". New York: MSNBC. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Krumboltz, M (August 19, 2011). "American girl in Italy: 60 years later". The Lookout. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Career". Ruth Orkin Photo Archive. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Andrews, Blake (September 20, 2024). "Ruth Orkin, Bike Trip USA, 1939". Collector Daily. Archived from the original on May 29, 2026. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move | Exhibition". National Museum of Women in the Arts. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Awards Feature: Director Todd Haynes Finds Inspiration for 'Carol' in Obscure Docudrama's "Lost Language of Femininity" | SSN Insider". www.ssninsider.com. Retrieved March 5, 2016.

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