| Toni
Frissell was a photojournalist and fashion photographer
who was also staff photographer for Vogue, Harper's
Bazaar, and Sports Illustrated. She was author or several
photography illustrated books, ranging from A Child's
Garden of Verses (1944) to The King Ranch, 1939-1944
(1975). Probably best known for her pioneering fashion
photography and 'informal portraits of the famous and
powerful in the United States and Europe, including
Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, and John F. and
Jacqueline Kennedy. She is noted for taking fashion
photography out of the studio into the outdoors, thus
placing an accent on the active woman. She is also known
for the imaginative angles, both physical and metaphorical,
from which she covered her subjects'. Frissell's chief
interests as subjects were children, fashion, families,
leisure activities such as eating and drinking, members
of American and British upper classes, well-known personalities
and sports. A large collection of Toni Frissell's work
is held at the Prints and Photographs Division at the
Library of Congress. This includes a substantial portion
of her documentary work of Second World War military
and civilian activities, both in the United States and
abroad, including some time spent in Britain documenting
the war. She focused particularly on women's contributions
during the war, including Red Cross activities and the
Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. She documented 'women
from all walks of life and in all situations, sometimes
using them to comment on the human condition'.
Frissell volunteered for the American Red Cross in
1941, because she had become '"so frustrated
with fashions that I wanted to prove to myself that
I could do a real reporting job".' Well connected
with high-profile society matrons, Frissell energetically
pursued wartime assignments at home and abroad. Through
her work, Frissell aimed to 'counter negative public
perception of women in uniform', and her images of
elite African American fighter pilots 'were intended
to encourage positive public attitudes about the fitness
of blacks to handle demanding military jobs'.
Stafford, S. Frissell, Toni Frissell: Photographs:
1933-1967, 1994
Information collated from: Library of Congress,
'Toni Frissell Collection: Prints and Photographs
Division', http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awpnp6/frissell_coll.html,
accessed October 10 2003; Library of Congress, '89709883',
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi.bin/query/D?ils:3/temp/~pp_DjmI::,
accessed October 3 2003; Library of Congress, 'Toni
Frissell - Women Come to the Front (Library of Congress
Exhibition)', http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/wcf0008.html,
accessed October 3 2003
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