Photography Highlights in the Bridgeman Images Collection
May is a big month in the cultural calendar for photography, with 2019 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition and Photo London at Somerset House. So we thought we would take the opportunity to showcase the work of some amazing Bridgeman Images photographers. Here is a selection of just a few of those whose work is available almost all exclusively through our archive:
Brett Weston
From top left clockwise: Mono Lake, California, 1956; Cracked Paint, 1972; Poplars, Saline Valley, California, 1954; Fern, California, 1954 (printed 1973); Overpass, Oregon, 1971. Brett Weston (1911-93) / Bridgeman Images
The American photographer Brett Weston (16th December 1911 – 22nd January 1993), was the son of another great photographer Edward Weston and seemed destined from birth to follow in his father’s footsteps. Brett was just 14 years old when he started taking pictures while living with Tina Mondotti and his father in Mexico, exhibiting his work alongside his father’s a couple of years later. He had his first one-man retrospective show at the De Young Museum in San Francisco aged just 21, prompting him to be described as the “child genius of American photography” by fellow photographer Van Deren Coke.
Lotte Meitner-Graf
From top left clockwise: Danny Kaye (1913-87); Alma Cogan (1932-66); Irene Joliot-Curie (1897-1956); Leontyne Price (b.1927); Lotte Meitner-Graf (1899-1973) / Private Collection
Lotte Meitner-Graf (1899 – May 1973) was an Austrian portrait photographer, who moved with her family to London in 1937 where she opened a Studio on Bond Street. She was a prolific photographer, and during her career, she photographed a number of well-known people in all fields, from the world of science to Hollywood stars. Famous sitters included Danny Kaye, John Gielgud, William Lawrence Bragg, Dorothy Hodgkin, and Max Perutz. Her images are powerful and imbued with a sense of the sitter’s character.
Nat Herz
From top left clockwise: The March on Washington: Love, 28th August 1963; The March on Washington: A Group from Detroit, 28th August 1963; New York City, Untitled 3, c.1953-64; Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) 1963; Coney Island Sisters, c.1953-64; The March on Washington: A Smiling Man at Washington Monument Grounds, 28th August 1963. Private Collection / Photo © Barbara Singer / Bridgeman Images
Nat Herz (August 1920 – November 1964) was an American photographer, poet, writer, and dedicated civil rights activist. He was a disciple of the Aesthetic Realist movement which celebrated the reality and beauty of being human, which had a lot of influence on his photographic work as well as his writing. His activism meant that a large body of his work is dedicated to the great civil rights protests, such as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom that took place in 1963. He was friends with many of the great photographers of the day, including Andre Kertesz, Dorothea Lange, Wynn Bullock, Lou Bernstein, Norman Rothschild, Leonora Carrington, Kurt Seligmann, and Chaim Koppelman.
Keith Berstein
From top left clockwise: Anthurium & Lily; Gus and Ella; SA Call Me; Sri Lanka Boat 2; Nelson Mandela; Blankets. Keith Bernstein (b.1963) / Bridgeman Images
Bridgeman Copyright photographer Keith Bernstein was born in South Africa and has been a photographer since leaving school at the age of 18. He produces creative photographs as well as having a great body of reportage photography. In 1994 he spent a month with Nelson Mandela as his photographer, during the weeks leading up to his election for the presidency. He was also one of a small group of photographers in Mogadishu, Somalia when an American military operation went very wrong; Ridley Scott’s film Blackhawk Down is based on the events that took place during those 48 hours. He has won many awards so far during his career, including Nikon Press Photographer of the Year twice in successive years, 3 World Press awards.
Alain le Garsmeur
From top left clockwise: British Army soldier with L2A3 Sterling Sub Machine Gun used during The Troubles, Northern Ireland, 1972; Petrol Bomber Youths during Rioting on the Falls Road, West Belfast, Northern Ireland, The Troubles, 1976; Republican Drawing on Handkerchief made in Long Kesh Internment Camp by Republican Prisoners during The Troubles, Northern Ireland , Long Kesh, 1972; British Army Soldier standing in front of burning barricade during The Troubles in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1976; Children playing at Masked Men in a Loyalist area of Belfast in front of Union Jack Flag Mural during The Troubles, Northern Ireland, 1971. Photos © Alain Le Garsmeur / Bridgeman Images
Bridgeman Images photographer Alain Le Garsmeur’s photographs cover many aspects of life during the Troubles, from the murals that appeared all over Belfast and Derry, to the presence of the British Army on the streets and the life of everyday people. They are often deeply moving, and provide a thorough record of life in Northern Ireland during this time.
Tony Vaccaro
From top left clockwise: Nina De Voe; A lone horse is fed oats near the entrance to the cathedral, Cassino, Italy, May, 1947; Silver Paint Faces; Hitler’s Window, 1945; Georgia O’Keeffe holding her painting, Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, 1960. Photos Private Collection / Photo © Tony Vaccaro / Bridgeman Images
Bridgeman Copyright artist, the renowned lifestyle and fashion photographer Tony Vaccaro has lived an amazing life. He has travelled the world, photographing the most prominent personalities of the 20th century while working for Flair, Look and Life magazines – including Picasso, Duchamp, Muhammad Ali and Sofia Lauren.
His photography career started however in less glamorous circumstances. In 1943 he joined the Allies in World War II taking a newly bought camera with him. Tony Vaccaro was sent to fight on the front lines as a combat infantryman in 1943 (aged 21) – but secretly brought his Argus Cs 35mm camera.
Howard Grey
Windrush migrants arriving at Waterloo Station, London, 1962. Howard Grey / Bridgeman Images
The ‘Windrush Generation’ is the name given to people who arrived in the UK between 1948 and 1971 from the Caribbean – an important time in British history. Bridgeman Copyright photographer Howard Grey was at Waterloo station photographing the arrival of some of the 1960s wave of immigrants. In his powerful series of photographs, Howard Grey casts a sympathetic eye on those who arrived at London Waterloo Station in the hopes of making a new life for themselves and their family.
John Haynes
From top left clockwise: Half time, Sunday pub league at Agbrigg, 1972; Samuel Beckett at the Royal Court Theatre with Billie Whitelaw, London in May 1979; Max Wall – the British comedian and actor in ‘The Entertainer’ by John Osborne at the Greenwich Theatre, London, 1974; : Samuel Beckett ‘s play ‘Not I’ 1973; Lindsay Anderson directing The Farm by David Storey, 1973. Photos © John Haynes / Bridgeman Images
Bridgeman Copyright photography John Haynes started taking photographs in 1963 after seeing Henri Cartier-Bresson’s book The Europeans (Les Européens), teaching himself photography with the aid of the American photographer Andreas Feininger’s book Manual of Advanced Photography whose focus was on the thought behind the taking of a picture, rather than on any technical aspect. After working for two years with The Sunday Times he decided to specialize in Theatre Photography. He was the in-house photographer for The Royal Court Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, and Michael Codron Ltd, from 1970 – 1994. During that time he also worked regularly for Cheek by Jowl, Joint Stock /Out of Joint. LAMDA, Robert Fox Ltd, RSC, The Tricycle Theatre, including Shakespeare’s Globe. He has photographed over 200 productions for The National Theatre under the artistic direction of Laurence Olivier, Peter Hall, Richard Eyre and Trevor Nunn.
Carolina Migrahi
Photographs by Ana Carolina Tavares Mizrahi, 2016 / Bridgeman Images
Ana Carolina Tavares Mizrahi was born in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. She was educated at the London College of Fashion and is currently living and working in London in the fields of set design, photography and art direction. Mizrahi is also now one of our most recent Bridgeman Contemporary artists. Mizrahi has worked with many prestigious clients including Vogue Italy, Vogue Brazil, Vogue Portugal, Elle UK, Time Out Magazine and Swarovski.
John Deakin
From top left clockwise: London at Night, Trafalgar Square lovers, 1957; Behrens Children, portrait of children of artist Timothy Behrens at home in Britain possibly late 1950’s; Portrait of poet George Barker, London, mid-early 1950’s; Lucian Freud, Soho, 1960s; Hussein Shariffe, portrait of Sudan born artist and filmmaker, Soho, London, UK, 1966; Leon la lune and friends, c.1955; Portrait of unknown man, Rome, early early 1950’s; Nicky Haslam, portrait of socialite and interior designer, London, UK, mid 1950’s. John Deakin (1912-1972) / The John Deakin Archive / Bridgeman Images
John Deakin (8 May 1912 – 25 May 1972), the great chronicler of 1950s and 1960s Soho, was a photographer who never received recognition during his lifetime. He was one of the great portrait photographers, taking pictures of the most talented artists, writers, and cultural figures in the UK at that time, as well as the well known characters who used to frequent the bars and pubs in Soho.
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