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Paul
Outerbridge
Paul
Outerbridge was born in New York City in 1898. His early career was as an
illustrator and theatrical designer. He was introduced to photography in
the U.S. Army, and in 1921 enrolled in the Clarence White School of
Photography. His early work centered around still-life's, but he later
became adept at various genres including fashion photography. By 1924 he
was working with various commercial accounts and magazines including
Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar. In the late 1920's he moved to
Europe and finally ended up in Paris where he became involved with the
avant-garde art community, which led to introductions and friendships with
several leading artists of the time including Man Ray, Picasso, and
Stravinsky, among others. It was during this period that he started
shooting erotic and fetishistic nudes. Shortly before the end of the
decade, he returned to New York where he set-up a studio and soon became
known for his creative work with color photography. In 1940 he published Photography
in Color, which is now considered a classic.
Outerbridge moved to California in 1943 but did not engage in any serious
work other than doing some portrait work at his small studio in Laguna
Beach. He worked at various endeavors in the photo and fashion industries
until he passed away in 1958. His reputation diminished until the
1970's when several exhibitions brought him back to the public eye. Tashen
published a fantastic retrospective of his work in 1999, Paul
Outerbridge: 1896-1958, and the world is once
smitten with this early master and his profound impact on the art of
photography.
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