Paul Outerbridge

Paul Outerbridge, Jr. (born, August 15 1896; died October 17 1958) was an American photographer noted for early use and experiments in color photography. Outerbridge was a fashion and commercial photographer, an early pioneer and teacher of color photography, and an artist who created erotic nudes photographs that could not be exhibited in his lifetime.

Photography career

Outerbridge, while still in his teens, worked as an illustrator and theatrical designer designing stage settings and lighting schemes. After an accident caused his discharge from the Royal Canadian Naval Air Service, in 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he did his first photography work. In 1921, Outerbridge enrolled in the Clarence H. White school of photography at Columbia University. Within a year his work began being reproduced in "Vanity Fair" and "Vogue" magazine.

In London, in 1925, the Royal Photographic Society invited Outerbridge to exhibit in a one-man show. Outerbridge then traveled to Paris and became friends with surrealist artists, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, and Berenice Abbott. In Paris, Outerbridge did a layout for the French Vogue magazine, met and worked with Edward Steichen, and built the largest, most completely equipped advertising photography studio of the times. In 1929, 12 of Outerbridge's photographs were included in the prestigious, German Film und Foto exhibition.

Returning to New York in 1929, Outerbridge opened a studio doing commercial and artistic work and began writing a monthly column on color photography for the U.S. Camera Magazine. Outerbridge became known for the high quality of his color illustrations, which were done in those years by means of an extremely complex tri-color carbro process. [cite book | last =Szarkowski | first =John | title ="Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art" | publisher =Bulfinch | date =July 28, 1999 ]

In 1937, Outerbridge's photographs were included in an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art and, in 1940, Outerbridge published his seminal book, "Photographing in Color", using high quality illustrations to explain his techniques.

Outerbridge's vivid color nudes studies included early fetish photos and were too indecent to find broad public acceptance. [cite book | last =Fiedler | first =Jeannine | title ="Paul Outerbridge, Jr" | publisher =Schirmer/Mosel, Munich ] A scandal over his erotic photography, led to Outerbridge retiring as a commercial photographer and moving to Hollywood in 1943. [cite book | last =Fiedler | first =Jeannine | title ="Paul Outerbridge, Jr" | publisher =Schirmer/Mosel, Munich ] Despite the controversy, Outerbridge continued to contribute photo stories to magazines and write his monthly column. In 1945, he married fashion designer Lois Weir and worked in their joint fashion company, "Lois-Paul Originals". [cite book | last =Dines-Cox | first =Elaine | coauthors =Carol McCusker | title =Paul Outerbridge 1896-1958 | publisher =Taschen | date =1999 | location =London | pages =23 ] He died of lung cancer in 1958.

One year after his death, the Smithsonian Institution staged a one-man show of Outerbridge's photographs. Although his reputation has faded, revivals of Outerbridge's photography in 1970s and 1990s has periodically brought him into contemporary public knowledge.

Books

*"Photographing in Color" (1940)
*"Paul Outerbridge: 1896-1958", Paul Outerbridge, Carol McCusker, Elaine Dines-Cox, M. F. Agha, and Manfred Heiting, Editor (1999), ISBN: 978-3822866184

References

External links

* International Center of Photography. [http://web.archive.org/web/20060326071826/http://masters-of-photography.com/O/outerbridge/outerbridge_articles1.html Encyclopedia of Photography entry on Paul Outerbridge] . 1984.
* Amon Carter Museum. [http://web.archive.org/web/20060406231646/http://www.cartermuseum.org/pr/newdocs/oute1213.htm Two new photographs go on view at Amon Carter Museum] . December 17, 1996.
* J. Paul Getty Museum. [http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=1971 Paul Outerbridge] .