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Lida Moser

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Lida Moser
Born(1920-08-17)August 17, 1920
New York City, New York
DiedAugust 12, 2014(2014-08-12) (aged 93)
Washington, D.C.
Occupation(s)Photographer, author
Years active1947 — 2014
Known forphotojournalism, portraiture, fashion, experimental, street photography
Notable workJudy and the Boys, 1961

Lida Moser (August 17, 1920 – August 12, 2014) was an American-born photographer and author, with a career that spanned more than six decades, before retiring in her 90s. She was known for her photojournalism and street photography as a member of both the Photo League [1] and the New York School. Her portfolio includes black and white commercial, portrait and documentary photography, with her work continuing to have an impact.

The Photo League was an early center of American documentary photography in the post war years, with membership including many of the most significant photographers of the 20th century. In a retrospective at the Fraser Gallery in Washington DC, she was described as a pioneer in the field of photojournalism.[2] She has also been described, much to Moser's annoyance[3], as the "grandmother of American photojournalism."[4]

Career

"Judy and the Boys (Mimicry)" Photograph by Lida Moser, 1961.

Moser was born in 1920 in New York City.[5][6] Her career started in 1947 as an assistant in Berenice Abbott's studio. She then earned her first assignment from Vogue in 1949, traveling across Canada. Other magazines featuring her work included Harper's Bazaar, Look and Esquire. She authored a number of books of her own work and co-authored several photographic technique books. Articles and ongoing columns appeared in the New York Times, New York Sunday Times, Amphoto Guide to Special Effects, Fun in Photography, Career Photography, Women See Men, Women of Vision and This Was the Photo League, among others.

Moser’s series of "Camera View" articles on photography for The New York Times appeared between 1974 and 1981.[7] Her photography has fetched as much as $4,000 at Christie's and other auctions[8] and continues to be collected and displayed by more than 40 museums worldwide.[9] Moser’s relationship to French photographer Eugène Atget can be seen in her photographs of Edinburgh as an early influence and that of American photographer Walker Evans.

Moser died on August 12, 2014 five days shy of her 94th birthday.[10]

A documentary of her Canadian travels and photographs was written and directed by Joyce Borenstein and released in 2017 under the title Lida Moser Photographer: Odyssey in Black and White.[11]

Permanent collections

Moser's work is in the permanent collection of:

Significant works

  • 1949 "Queen's Parade, Edinburgh, Scotland"[17]
  • 1949 "John Boyd Orr, Baron Boyd Orr"[18]
  • 1949 "Douglas Young"[19]
  • 1949 "Stanley Cursiter"[20]
  • 1949 "Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh Tapestry Company"[21]
  • 1950 "Farm Girls, Valley of the Matapedia, Quebec"[17]
  • 1950 "Two students of Quebec City's Ecole Moderne pose with sculptures"[22]
  • 1961 "Judy and the Boys"[23]
  • 1965 "Office Bldg. Lobby, New York"[17]
  • 1968 "Cops, Times Square, New York"[17]
  • 1971 "Construction of the Exxon Building, New York'[9][17]

Books

  • Earthman, Come Home (1966)
  • A Life For the Stars (Cities in Flight, 2) (Avon SF, G1280) (1968)
  • Construction of the Exxon Building, New York (1971)
  • Fun in Photography Amphoto U.S.(1974) ISBN 978-0-8174-056-49
  • Amphoto Guide to Special Effects Watson-Guptill Pubns(1980) ISBN 978-0-8174-352-40
  • 'Photography Contests: How to Enter, How to Win Amphoto U.S.(1981)ISBN 978-0-8174-244-59
  • Grants in Photography: How to Get Them (1979)ISBN 978-0-8174-244-59
  • Quebec a l'ete 1950 Libre Expression (French Edition) (1982) ISBN 978-2-8911-111-02
  • Career Photography: How to Be a Success As a Professional Photographer Prentice Hall Trade (1983)ISBN 978-0-13115-11-30 [24]

Moser's 1971 book “Construction of Exxon Building, New York City" features a photo of window washers that has been recreated in Lego building blocks at Legoland Florida theme park.

Office Building Lobby, New York, in which Moser’s wild overexposure has reduced organization men to near–stick figures and the lobby to an ill-defined blob, presaging by several years the visual distortions of 2001: A Space Odyssey.[25]

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2012-09-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) | Women of the Photo League
  2. ^ Jacobson, Louis (8 April 2005). "Lida Moser: Fifty Years of Photographs". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
  3. ^ "Why Photographer Lida Moser Couldn't Be Pigeonholed". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  4. ^ "Photographic Memories". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  5. ^ Emily Langer (August 30, 2014). "Lida Moser, photographer of New York and beyond, dies at 93". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  6. ^ Moser, Lidia. "United States Public Records Index". Family Search. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  7. ^ Moser, Lida (17 October 1976). "A Photographer's Guide to Cooperative Galleries; Cooperative Galleries". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
  8. ^ "Past Auction Results for Lida Moser". Artnet.com. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c "Artworks, 115 artworks, Lida Moser". National Galleries Scotland. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  10. ^ Sophie Cazenave (2014). "Deces de Lida Moser photographe du Quebic desannees 1950". Radio Canada. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  11. ^ Lida Moser Photographer: Odyssey in Black and White, retrieved 2018-12-19
  12. ^ "Lida Moser | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  13. ^ "Lida Moser 1963, Alice Neel". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  14. ^ "Search the Collection Lida Moser (1920-2014)". National Portrait Gallery London. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  15. ^ "Guide to the Lida Moser Photograph Collection New York Historical Society". dlib.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  16. ^ "Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution". collections.si.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  17. ^ "John Boyd Orr, Baron Boyd Orr - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  18. ^ "Douglas Young - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  19. ^ "Lida Moser | National Galleries of Scotland". www.nationalgalleries.org. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  20. ^ "Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh Tapestry Company (Ronnie McVinnie, John Loufit, Fred Marin, Richard Gordon, Alec Jack, Ian Inglis, Archie Brennan,..." National Galleries of Scotland. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  21. ^ "The 1950s in Quebec through the eyes of Lida Moser". The Concordian. 2016-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  22. ^ Moser, Lida (1961). "Mimicry (Judy and the boys)". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  23. ^ "Lida Moser Amazon Bibliography". Amazon.com. October 17, 1976.
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