Kathryn Abbe (September 22, 1919 – January 18, 2014) was an American photographer.

Early life and education

Kathryn Abbe was born Kathryn McLaughlin in 1919, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Her twin sister was photographer

Frances McLaughlin-Gill Frances McLaughlin-Gill (1919–2014) was an American photographer and the first female fashion photographer under contract with ''Vogue''. After two decades in the fashion industry, she worked as an independent film producer for a decade making c ...

. They were raised in

Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven and Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The population was 44,396 at the 2020 census. The community was named after Wallingford, in En ...

, and were the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

and

salutatorian Salutatorian is an academic title given in the United States, Armenia, and the Philippines to the second-highest-ranked graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is tradi ...

of their graduating class at

Lyman Hall High School Lyman Hall High School is a public high school located at 70 Pond Hill Road in Wallingford, Connecticut. It is part of the Wallingford Public School System, and one of two public high schools in Wallingford, Mark T. Sheehan being the other. Histo ...

. Abbe attended the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

, where she studied under Walter Civardi and painter Reginald Marsh; she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1941. She also attended the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...

from 1939 until 1941, where she studied under

Yasuo Kuniyoshi was a Japanese-American painter, photographer and printmaker. Biography Kuniyoshi was born on September 1, 1889 in Okayama, Japan. He immigrated to the United States in 1906, choosing not to attend military school in Japan. Kuniyoshi original ...

. In 1946, she married photographer James Abbe, Jr., the son of the Hollywood photographer

James Abbe James Edward Abbe (July 17, 1883 – November 11, 1973) was an American photographer. Background James Edward Abbe was born in 1883 in Alfred, Maine. His career as an international photographer was first boosted by the Washington Post, which co ...

. The couple had three children. She and her sister were the cousins of artist

Tomie dePaola Thomas Anthony "Tomie" dePaola (; September 15, 1934 – March 30, 2020) was an American writer and illustrator who created more than 260 children's books, such as '' Strega Nona''. He received the Children's Literature Legacy Award for his lifeti ...

Career

Abbe won ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' magazine's Prix de Paris photography award in 1941. By 1942, she was working for ''Vogue'' under

Toni Frissell Antoinette Frissell Bacon (March 10, 1907 – April 17, 1988), known as Toni Frissell, was an American photographer, known for her fashion photography, World War II photographs, and portraits of famous Americans, Europeans, children, and women ...

; she left the magazine and became a professional freelance photographer in 1944 – one of few women to hold the position at the time. Although in the 1940s she photographed

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and

extensively, by the mid-1940s her assignments took her around the world, notably to Paris, Havana, New York, Rome and Milan. Her subjects often included fashion icons, entertainment personalities, children, street vignettes, and artists. Her photographs of

Carmen Dell'Orefice Carmen Dell'Orefice (, ; born June 3, 1931) is an American supermodel and actress. She is known within the fashion industry for being the world's oldest working model as of the Spring/Summer 2012 season. She was on the cover of ''Vogue'' at the ...

and

Lisa Fonssagrives Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

are particularly striking. Abbe's work was published in over eighty books and international periodicals, among them, '' Better Homes and Gardens'', ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-for ...

'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...

'', ''

Paris Match ''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly news magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. History and profile A sports news magazine, ''Match l'intran'' (a play on ''L'Intransigeant' ...

'', and ''Vogue''. She was awarded more than twenty major magazine covers – a rare achievement for a female photographer of her time. A co-author of three books, ''Stars of the Twenties Observed by James Abbe'' (1974), ''Twins on Twins'', (with her twin sister, 1980), and ''Twin Lives in Photography'' (2011), Abbe lectured extensively and appeared on many television programs, among them, the ''

Dick Cavett Show ''The Dick Cavett Show'' was the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including: * ABC daytime, (March 4, 1968–January 24, 1969) originally titled ''This Morning'' * ABC prime time, Tuesdays, We ...

''. A 2000 documentary, ''Twin Lenses'', was produced by

Nina Rosemblum Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms *National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq * Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology * No incom ...

about the lives and careers of Abbe and her sister.

References

External links

Official website
from ''The New York Times'' * ttp://easthamptonstar.com/Obituaries/2014123/Kathryn-Abbe-Photographer About Kathryn Abbebr>Vogue: Kathryn Abbe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbe, Kathryn 1919 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American women photographers 20th-century American photographers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women photographers 21st-century American photographers 21st-century American women writers American twins People from Wallingford, Connecticut Photographers from Connecticut Photographers from New York City Pratt Institute alumni The New School alumni Vogue (magazine) people Writers from Brooklyn Writers from Connecticut

Early life and education

Career

References

Further reading

External links