Lillian Bassman American photographer and artist Date of Birth: 15.06.1917 Country: USA

1. Lillian Bassman: A Biography
2. Early Life and Career
3. Unique Style and Evolution
4. Rediscovery and Late Years
5. Legacy

Lillian Bassman: A Biography

Lillian Bassman was an American photographer and artist whose name was quite well-known in the 1950s and 1960s. However, in the 1970s, Bassman became disillusioned with photography, stopped working, and her name was almost forgotten. By a miraculous coincidence, her photographs resurfaced in the 1990s, sparking a renewed, stronger interest in her work.

Early Life and Career

Lillian Bassman was born in 1917 in Brooklyn, New York, to a family of Russian immigrants. In 1933, she graduated from Textile High School, where she was in the same class as Alexey Brodovitch, a future renowned photographer. It was during this time that Bassman also met Paul Himmel, whom she later married and remained with for over 70 years. In her youth, Bassman pursued various endeavors, including working as a textile designer and a model.

Bassman entered the world of photography in the 1940s, influenced by her husband. She took and developed her own photographs. With the help of her acquaintance with Brodovitch, who was already a highly influential figure in the photography world, Bassman managed to get her work featured in the fashionable publication "Harper's Bazaar." Her career became closely associated with the magazine, and her work was actively published in its pages during the 1950s and 1960s.

Unique Style and Evolution

Bassman's monochromatic photographs resembled paintings or graphics, with meticulous attention to detail. Her fashion portraits sometimes transformed into psychological portraits, and she was among the first to capture models in their underwear. However, in the 1970s, Bassman realized that fashion photography was becoming more commercialized and further detached from true art. She also expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of recognition that accompanied her work. Models became successful and famous, even makeup artists and hairstylists gained their share of fame, while the photographer herself remained in the shadows.

Feeling disenchanted, Bassman decided to step away from photography in the 1970s. She continued to work but solely for her own creative satisfaction. Additionally, Bassman, always interested in fashion design, began sewing her own clothes and even opened a popular boutique.

Rediscovery and Late Years

In the 1990s, Bassman accidentally stumbled upon her old negatives, which she had previously believed to be lost. Using modern printing technologies, she developed and printed them again, resulting in more contrast and a completely new meaning for her old black and white photographs. The advertising images of the 1950s transformed into true works of art in the 1990s. At nearly 80 years old, Bassman's unique and authorial style garnered even more attention, and she began to be truly celebrated once again. The blurred images, vague outlines of figures, and elusive faces of models gave Bassman's photographs a distinctiveness that set her apart.

It is known that in her advanced age of 90 or more, Bassman became fascinated with computer graphics and extensively experimented with Photoshop. Her husband, Paul Himmel, passed away in 2009, after a 73-year marriage.

Legacy

Lillian Bassman passed away on February 13, 2012, at the age of 94. Her photographs have firmly secured their place in the history of photography, described as "soft," "sensual," and "bold." Bassman is considered a pioneer of her own style, transforming the perception of female beauty.