R40,000 - R60,000
Ruth Orkin (American 1921 - 1985) AN AMERICAN GIRL IN ITALY
gelatin silver print
embossed with the Ruth Orkin chopmark in the margin; authorised and signed by Mary Engel, daughter of Ruth Orkin and Executrix of The Estate of Ruth Orkin, inscribed with the artist's name, the title and 'copyright 1952, 1980' in a Ruth Orkin Photo Archive stamp on the reverse of the work
sheet size: 40,5 by 51cm, unframed
Ruth Orkin, pioneering female photographer of the 1950s, is most well known for her image, ‘An American Girl in Italy’. The powerful photograph was later presented as a part of the ‘Don't be Afraid to Travel Alone’ series. It shows Ninalee Craig, friend of Orkin, striding past a group of men on a sidewalk in Italy, head held high, as if completely unaffected by their ogling. Not only did Orkin break glass ceilings in a male-dominated field as a photojournalist, her photographs offered a rare glimpse of two women, one behind and one in front of the camera, thus challenging the era's gender roles and the art world’s male gaze, (and loving every minute of it). Orkin’s daughter says, “[T]he photo is more relevant now than ever for what it truly represents: independence, freedom and self-determination”.
-AC
Grinberg, Emanuella, (2017), CNN Online, The real story behind 'An American Girl in Italy', Accessed 4 September 2021
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/30/europe/tbt-ruth-orkin-american-girl-in-italy/index.html
The MET, American Girl in Italy, 1951, Ruth Orkin, Accessed 4 September 2021 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/271216
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