Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move
Beginning with her youthful adventures, Ruth Orkin (b. 1921, Boston; d. 1985, New York City) showed ambition and curiosity that presaged her future successes as a photographer. At age seventeen, she traveled from Los Angeles to New York City with nothing but her bicycle, $25, and her camera, determined to visit and photograph the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Local journalists documented her trip along the way, and the experience affirmed Orkin’s belief in the power of the camera to tell vivid stories. She planned to explore the world and build a career in photography and film despite the limitations women faced in the mid-twentieth century.
Raised in Hollywood and with dreams of becoming a filmmaker, the teenage Orkin became the first messenger girl at MGM Studios. However, the cinematographer’s union barred women from joining. Despite this setback, Orkin built a photography career that took her around the world on assignments from publications such as Life and the New York Times. Whether depicting the glitz of Hollywood or intimate relationships among families, Orkin showed her subjects as unaffected and real.
Works on view—part of NMWA’s robust photography collection—highlights the rigidity of gender roles at the down of postwar America. Okin’s images explore the experience of women in public spaces and her own life; they offer a perspective on womanhood that is driven by admiration and empathy. Her glamorous shots of celebrities, street photography, and humorous scenes from everyday life convey a rich and engaging vision of women’s experiences.
Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move is organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts and generously supported by the members of NMWA.
WAC Personnel, 1950s
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift from the collection of Jeffrey Hugh Newman
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was officially established in 1942 as a supplemental, noncombat branch to advance U.S. military efforts during World War II. One year later, the group was given full military status and renamed the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). This change granted women standardized rank and pay within their roles, allowing them to establish more secure careers in the army. Although Orkin left in 1943, she continued to photograph some of the first members of this newly official branch of the U.S. military.
Venice Canal, 1951
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
Landscape, 1950s (printed later)
Gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
Along the Arno River, Florence, 1950s
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift from the collection of Charles S. and Elynne B. Zucker
Mist Over Sheep Meadow, Central Park, NYC, 1971
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
Young Israeli Family Living on a Kibbutz, 1951 (printed later)
Gelatin silver print; Gift from the collection of Charles S. and Elynne B. Zucker
One of the most important assignments of Orkin’s career was traveling to Israel to photograph the Israeli Philharmonic for Life magazine. As a lover of music, she completed many projects that captured renowned musicians and composers, such as Marian Anderson and Leonard Bernstein, and she accepted the overseas assignment without hesitation. After completing the job, she spent three months living on a kibbutz, documenting the people she met and listening to their stories.
WAAC Platoon, Monticello, Arkansas, 1943
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift from the collection of Charles S. and Elynne B. Zucker
Orkin enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) when the U.S. entered World War II. Members of her platoon, spattered with water and mud in this candid image, beam with joy and a spirit of camaraderie. Orkin joined WAAC after encountering a recruitment advertisement promising that those who enlisted could receive cinematography training. Unfortunately, this was never offered to her. After another setback in her quest to become a filmmaker, she left the Army in 1943 and moved to New York.
Three Sisters, Los Angeles, 1952
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
Couple in Central Park West, NYC, ca. late 1970s (printed later)
Gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
Couple Leaning on Wall, Central Park West, NYC, ca. late 1970s
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
New York City, 1970s
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
Fire Island, New York, 1950s
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
Mother and Baby, 1950s
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
One of Orkin’s first jobs in New York was taking portraits of children. They became one of her favorite subjects, and she continued to take candid shots of children throughout her career. Her photographs capture the joy, curiosity, and innocence that endured in young people, even in a rapidly changing postwar world. In Mother and Baby, Orkin captured her subjects’ innate resilience and beauty, as the woman gently holds her child in a composition of soft lighting and shadows.
First Day at Nursery School, Lincoln Sq. YMCA, Jonathan and Teacher, 1950s
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift from the collection of Charles S. and Elynne B. Zucker
Opening Night Party of “The Member of the Wedding,” NYC, 1950 (printed later)
Gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
Actor Ethel Waters, writer Carson McCullers, and actor Julie Harris sit together on a couch after the debut Broadway performance of the stage adaptation of McCullers’s The Member of the Wedding. Orkin’s image illuminates a vulnerable moment: the stars’ interaction as they nervously await reviews. McCullers leans her head onto Waters, who embraces her lovingly. Beside them, Harris leans over the couch, bringing a small teacup to her lips and holding a lit cigarette in her other hand.
Gretchen Dykstra, Schoolteacher, 1974
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
Woman at the Newsstand, 1948 (printed later)
Gelatin silver print; Gift of Joel Meyerowitz
American Girl in Italy, 1951 (printed 1980 by Ruth Orkin Estate)
Gelatin silver print; Promised gift of Steven Scott, Baltimore, in honor of NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling
On an intimidating Italian street corner, the woman in the center of this image remains confident—she pulls her shawl around her shoulders and raises her chin. Orkin and the subject, American art student Ninalee Craig, met while traveling in Florence and decided to explore the city together. Despite the objectifying gestures of the men surrounding Craig, Orkin focuses on her trepidation and poise. The two staged this image after observing the men’s initial reaction to Craig’s presence on the sidewalk. Orkin asked her to walk by again so that she could capture this shot.
Ava Gardner, 1952
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift from the collection of Charles S. and Elynne B. Zucker
Film star Ava Gardner shines in this glamorous candid photograph. The bright light above her head puts her in the spotlight, while two figures behind her blur into the background. Her eyes light up as she looks toward someone out of the frame. In order to capture her subjects at ease, Orkin often waited until they seemed oblivious to her camera before taking her shot. In this close-up of Gardner—an idealized celebrity—her naturalism and authenticity diverge from the traditional poster-girl aesthetic.
Actress Jane Russell at NY Recording Studio, 1950
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift from the collection of Jeffrey Hugh Newman
Despite the glamour and polish that defined the feminine ideal in the 1950s, this photograph captures an attentive Jane Russell as she stands in a recording studio. With her hands on her hips in a casual pose, the Hollywood star appears resolute, contrasting the portrayals that her fans might see on magazine covers. Orkin recorded this unguarded moment to communicate Russell’s position as an ambitious and successful woman in Hollywood.
Waitresses, 1950s
Vintage gelatin silver print; Gift from the collection of Jeffrey Hugh Newman
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