Spotlight: Ida Wyman

"I did not consciously think about why I wanted the photo at that moment except that it pleased something within me. I have thought about this many years later as a certain synchrony of heart, eye and brain."

Ida Wyman is one of the most fascinating artists in photphotography today. When Ida first started her photography career in the 1940s as a magazine photographer, an industry that was almost exclusively male at the time, she started out as a "girl" mailroom boy at Acme Newspictures (later UPI) and worked her way up from there. A trail blazing and innovative photographer, Ida has inspired many photographers, both male and female, to be sure.

 

Stick Ball on St. Nicholas

 

Two Men on Steps

 

Ida strives to capture everyday life of everyday people in all its frustrating, illogical and banal glory. From her classic Girl with Curlers photograph of a little girl on the street in LA staring defiantly at the viewer to the delicate symmetrical composition of Wrought Iron with Snow, Ida photographed what moved and inspired her. 

 

 

Girl with Curlers, 1949

 

Wrought Iron with Snow, 1947

 

You can easily connect the dots between many artists photographing today with Ida Wyman. Her unique brand of street photography helped define a fledgling style still trying to define itself. Street photography has since evolved, but the roots Ida helped lay with others such as Arthur Fellig, Ruth Orkin and Arthur Leipzig are still visible. Although not as famous as some of her contemporaries, Ida was one of the defining artists of early street photography that helped shape how we look at our world.

We are very honored to represent the work of Ida Wyman at Catherine Couturier Gallery. Please visit Ida's website here. To view Ida's artist page, please click here.