Arnold Newman

American photographer, Arnold Newman was born in NYC March 3, 1918 and died on June 6, 2006. Newman is profound for his environmental portraits of artists and politicians, as well as his abstract still life work.

Newman attended University of Miami where he studied painting and drawing but soon he couldn't afford to pay for school. He then moved to Philly and make 49 cent portraits at a studio and is where he learned how to work with subjects and where he began his interest in portraits.

Newman managed and own portraits studios and soon was a freelancer for Fortune, Life and Newsweek. He has photographs John F. Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, Pablo Picasso, Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan, Audrey Hepburn and more. Despite his work with famous personalities, he kept with the idea of photographing subjects that would excite and be of interest to the viewer even if the subject was not known.



Newman is most well-known for his concept of environmental portraiture. He placed subjects in a controlled setting to showcase the personality and heart of subjects' life and work. He put the subjects in surroundings that were familiar to the subject and that had good visuals for a photography to exemplify the subject's life. This method helped put his subjects as ease so they felt they were in their "space." He framed his photos in various ways depending on his subjects and the environment he created for them.

His work is fascinating. I think it is remarkable that he is one of the photographers the idea of environmental portraits. He is really able to capture the life of his subjects as well as being able to make his subjects feel comfortable and capture part of their personality and emotions.

Side note he was one of the few photographers allowed to photograph Henri Cartier-Bresson!!!