Inge Morath: Photographer
Photography is a strange phenomenon. In spite of the use of that technical instrument, the camera, no two photographers, even if they were at the same place at the same time, come back with the same pictures. The personal vision is usually there from the beginning; result of a special chemistry of background and feelings, traditions and their rejection, of sensibility and voyeurism. You trust your eye and cannot help but bare your soul. One's vision finds of necessity the form suitable to express it.
Inge Morath, Life as a Photographer
Inge Morath (1923-2002) worked as translator and writer in Europe, and became assistant to Henri Cartier Bresson after joining the photographic co-operative Magnum by invitation of Robert Capa in 1953. From 1954 on she worked independently as a member of Magnum Photos in Paris. Her extended travels and her special interest in the arts found expression in photographic essays published by a number of leading magazines, i.e. Life, Paris Match, Holiday Magazine, Saturday Evening Post, Vogue, Picture Post, Illustrated Magazine, etc. as well as in a growing number of books. A trip to the Middle East, undertaken for Holiday Magazine, led to the publication of the book "From Persia to Iran", while numerous publications of her work in Spain led to the publication of the book "Fiesta in Pamplona." She took the photographs for such books as "Venice Observed" with Mary McCarthy, "Bring Forth the Children" with Yul Brynner, and "Le Masque" with Saul Steinberg.
As portraitist of personalities in politics and arts, she photographed a great number of famous contemporaries. Inge Morath also published documentations of a number of movies as well as the stage productions of plays by her husband, Arthur Miller, amongst them the now famous staging of "Death of a Salesman" in Beijing.
Inge Morath's spiritual and esthetic life was dominated by the painting and sculpture of both East and West. Visual art was almost literally her food; frequently her relaxation at the end of a day was to leaf through a book of paintings, many of them ones she had known and marveled at over many years. Art sustained her, strengthened her loving pursuit of beauty with her camera. She was, I think, not so much a reporter in the usual sense as a discoverer in the life around her of the forms and natural designs that chaos leaves in its wake. Arthur Miller About The Estate of Inge Morath
The Estate of Inge Morath was established to facilitate the study and appreciation of Inge Morath’s contribution to photography. The main work of the Estate is to preserve Morath’s legacy through in-house programs dedicated to documentation and conservation of her artwork and related materials. The Estate has also applied for non-profit status as a private foundation, and in that capacity it will serve as a public resource for the international community of scholars and curators, as well as general audiences interested in Morath’s work. Currently, an inventory of all known works by Morath is in progress which, when completed, will be available to visitors to the Estate. The Estate is also working on several exhibition and publication projects, including a traveling exhibition of Morath's best-known images, to be made available at no cost to American schools in support of their arts and photography programs.
Touring Exhibit of Inge Morath's Photographs
The Estate of Inge Morath is offering an exhibit of 20-25 framed photographs by Inge Morath that will tour, free of charge, to schools throughout the country. If you are interested in hosting the exhibition at your school, or if you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.
Contact Information
Jennifer Larsen, Exhibition Coordinator The Estate of Inge Morath 40 West 27th Street, 6th floor New York, New York 10001 phone: 212-684-4195 fax: 212-684-0760 email: [email protected]
website: www.ingemorath.org email: [email protected]