Ruth Orkin: Women

Whether candid or posed, in black and white or color, Orkin’s photographs of women reveal her consistently sympathetic eye

In 1951, her photograph American Girl in Italy―depicting a young woman on a street flanked by whistling men―made Ruth Orkin (1921–85) a household name. Now, a new facet of her work emerges through sensational never-before-seen negatives and slides. Women illustrates Orkin’s devoted, humorous, witty and sensitive documentation of women’s life in the 1940s and 1950s. She records the illustrious goings-on in beauty salons and at cocktail parties, at dog shows and on Hollywood sets. We meet Lauren Bacall, Jane Russell, Joan Taylor and Doris Day, but also waitresses, stewardesses, female soldiers and best friends. Whether gazing directly into the camera, looking away from it or even laughing at something outside of the frame, Orkin’s snapshots of women reflect their increased career mobility, consumer power and social influence in the postwar era.