Photographer of the Week

“I have been poor and I wanted to photograph poverty; I had lost a child and I was obsessed with birth; I was interested in politics and I wanted to know how it affected our lives; I am a woman and I wanted to know about women." -Eve Arnolds 

Eve Arnold, a pioneer photographer who captures the moments before the beauty, candid photos of models before they put on their wigs, and political influencers in the flame of pure fury. 

Born in Philadelphia in 1913, Arnold was just one of 9 children descending from her Russian and Jewish immigrant parents. Dropping her ambitions to become a doctor, Arnold starting photographing after she received a camera from her boyfriend who, at the time, worked in film processing in 1946 (Montano). She then continued to study photography at New School for Social Research (Sparks). She then quickly ran up the ranks and became the first woman ever to work at the Magnum cooperation as a photographer. Arnold's claim to fame began after she started shooting with Marilyn Monroe as they both were just starting out their careers in the late 1940's.“At photo sessions, she was in total control, she manipulated everything-me, the camera and I never met anyone who could make them respond the way she did” Monroe comments after a shoot with Arnolds. 

Arnold then reaches outside the Hollywood glamour to photograph political rallies and historical events such as the civil rights movement in 1950 and the Nation of Islam rally where there she captured George Lincon Rockwell, who at the time was the head chair for the American Nazi Party giving a passionately hateful speech. By raising her camera up to snap a blind shot at the "hail mary" angle in the face of the head Nazi sympathizer "I'll make a bar of soap out of you" Rockwell responds to Arnold's fearless ambition.  Arnold was awarded the Order of the British Empire by the British government in 2003, names master photographer by the International center of photography (Montano) after working for Life, Look, and Picture Post.

While also capturing the critical relevance of world events to the people, Arnold also stepped out of the traditional beauty standards by recognizing the natural beauty of overlooked African American women. White women with beehive hairstyles and a petite physique, Arnold's feminist attitude recognized there is more to beauty than just the boxed stereotype of the "elegant housewife" look. Refusing to confide in traditional American beauty standards Arnold captured Cicely Tyson with a bold natural afro which stepped far out of the clean and neat updo most women strived for. She allowed the public to recognize that self-acceptance is true beauty. 

My favorite photo of Eve Arnolds is of a series of photos she shot with Joan Crawford. Crawford was considered a "dame of the 20th century" (Sparks). Other than the impeccable lighting, Arnold once again sees beauty past the stereotype that is portrayed as beautiful. People will always to reluctantly looking to create a certain appearance despite how old they are. An exhausting journey in the relentless world of how others perceive us will never be out of style. From the early Egyptians making the first eyeliner, eye shadow, and lip color, to modern-day Jenner lip kit, beauty will never be saught after. This is shown in these melancholy but slightly empowering photos captured by Arnold.