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 from all walks of life.

Personal life

Antoinette Frissell was born in 1907 to Lewis Fox Frissell and Antoinette Wood Montgomery. Her brothers were Phelps Montgomery Frissell and filmmaker Varick Frissell, who was killed in Newfoundland during the filming of ''The Viking'' in 1931. Frissell was the granddaughter of Algernon Sydney Frissell, founder and president of the Fifth Avenue Bank of New York, and great-granddaughter of Mary Whitney Phelps and Governor of Missouri John S. Phelps. Ancestors include Elisha Phelps, US representative from Connecticut (1819–21, 1825–29), and Maj. Gen. Noah Phelps, Revolutionary War hero. When Frissell was younger, she was passionate about theater, but after two roles in

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most pro ...

productions, she realized it was not for her. In her early 20s, she started taking pictures in part because of her brother, Varick Frissell, a filmmaker and photographer who taught her the basics of photography. She was married to Francis “Mac” Bacon on September 9, 1932, after a few months of the couple’s romance. She had a passion for skiing, and once went on a three-month long skiing trip with her husband and daughter after her daughter’s graduation. Toni and her husband purchased a large, white house on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

at Saint James called 'Sherrewogue' on the water of Stony Brook Harbor where the couple and their family lived for nearly 50 years. In the early 1970s, she began to have trouble with her memory. To counteract this, she began to write a memoir, one that turned into almost a thousand-page manuscript. Her memoir recounts the times from her childhood to her later life, detailing her privileged upbringing, exploration of Europe, parties in her 20s, youth romances, and adoration for the richer way of life. This early fascination with the privileged life influenced the choice in subjects of her photographs, and the more privileged sports, such as skiing and golf, that she went on to photograph for ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

.''

Pre-war career

Toni Frissell - Frida Kahlo, seated next to an agave

Frissell was born in 1907 in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, NY, and took photos under the name Toni Frissell, despite her marriage to Manhattan socialite McNeil Bacon. At the beginning of her career, she worked briefly for ''

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'', ...

,'' making captions and writing a bit for the magazine. She was fired because of her poor spelling, but was encouraged by ''Vogue''’s fashion editor

Carmel Snow Carmel Snow, born Carmel White (21 August 1887 – 7 May 1961), was the editor-in-chief of the American edition of ''Harper's Bazaar'' from 1934 to 1958; and the chair of the magazine's editorial board. She was famously quoted as saying, "E ...

to take up photography. She took up photography to cope with the illness of her mother, the death of her brother Varick Frissell, and the end of her engagement to Count Serge Orloff-Davidoff. Her first published picture was in ''Town and Country''. After this, she advocated for herself and got a contract with ''Vogue.'' She apprenticed with

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the theat ...

. She worked with many other famous photographers of the day. Her first photography job, as a fashion photographer for ''Vogue'' in 1931, was due to

Condé Montrose Nast Condé is a French place name and personal name. It is ultimately derived from a Celtic word, "Condate", meaning "confluence" (of two rivers) - from which was derived the Romanised form "Condatum", in use during the Roman period, and thence to t ...

. She later took photographs for

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

. Her fashion photos, even of evening gowns and such, were often notable for their outdoor settings, emphasizing active women. She was one of the first photographers to move outside of the studio for fashion photography, setting a trend in the field. She did not shoot indoors primarily because “I don't know how to photograph in a studio. I never did know about technical points and still don't”. Her style continued in this ‘plein air’ way throughout her career. For this kind of innovation and experimentation she was well known.

World War II

In 1941, Frissell volunteered her photographic services to the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

. Later she worked for the Eighth Army Air Force and became the official photographer of the

Women's Army Corps The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) on 15 May 1942 and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United States ...

. On their behalf, she took thousands of images of nurses, front-line soldiers, WACs, African-American airmen, and orphaned children."Women Come to The Front"
Library of Congress website; accessed November 11, 2016. She traveled to the European front twice. Her first picture to be published in Life magazine was of bombed out London in 1942. Her moving photographs of military women and

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

fighter pilots in the elite 332d Fighter Group (the "

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army ...

") were used to encourage public support for women and African Americans in the military. During the War she produced a series of photographs of children that were used in an edition of

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

's much-published ''A child's garden of verses'' which were an early example of the successful use of photography in illustration of children's literature.

After the war

In the 1950s, she took informal portraits of the famous and powerful in the United States and Europe, including

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

, the

Vanderbilts The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthr ...

, architect

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in addition ...

and John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy, and worked for ''

'' and ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' magazines. Throughout her photographic career, she worked at home and abroad for these large publications. When she grew tired of fashion photography and fluctuating between contracts with ''

'' and ''

Harper’s Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

,'' she continued her interest in active women and sports and was hired as the first woman on the staff of ''Sports Illustrated'' in 1953, and continued to be one of very few female sport photographers for several decades. After 1950, she did freelance work for ''Life, Look, Vogue, and Sports'' until her retirement in 1967. In later work she concentrated on photographing women from all walks of life, often as a commentary on the human condition. Her iconic 1944 photograph previously used for book illustration, ''My Shadow'', of a boy with outstretched arms admiring his long shadow on the sea sand, was selected by

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography. Steichen was credited with tr ...

for the world-touring exhibition ''

The Family of Man ''The Family of Man'' was an ambitious exhibition of 503 photography, photographs from 68 countries curated by Edward Steichen, the director of the New York City Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) Department of Photography. According to Steichen, ...

'' at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York, that was seen by 9 million visitors. In 1957 the photograph was used for the cover of a popular psychology text. In 1963 an entire feature in Life magazine was devoted to photographs of 'The Loving Embrace' from across her career.

Legacy

In 1966 ''Life'' magazine paid tribute to her in a page 3 editorial profile headed 'Patrician Photographer of a Vanishing Age'. Frissell died of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

on April 17, 1988, in a Long Island nursing home.New York Times (1988). "Toni Frissell, 81, Dies; A Noted Photographer". Retrieved 16 November 2015.
/ref> Her husband, Francis M. Bacon 3rd, of Bacon, Stevenson & Company, predeceased her. She was survived by her daughter Sidney, and her son Varick.
/ref> The collection of her photos in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

contains around 340,000 images, and because of its size is not completely available to the public. She and her husband donated her archive of film negatives in 1971. According to the International Center of Photography Frissell's major contribution to fashion photography was her development of the realistic (as opposed to the staged) fashion photograph in the 1930s and 1940s. Like Martin Munkacsi, she mastered the appearance of unselfconscious spontaneity in fashion pictures by working outside and on location with her models. She had a tendency to use uncommon perspectives, which she achieved by placing her camera on a dramatic diagonal axis, and/or using a low point of view and a wide-angle lens against a neutral background, thus creating the illusion of elongated human form. With her preference for close-ups and straightforward, unembellished images of winsome, sportswear-clad models, Frissell's action-fashion photographs are landmarks in the development of postwar fashion imagery.

Publications

Publications by Frissell

*''The King Ranch, 1939-1944: A photographic essay.'' 1965. With an introduction and captions by

Holland McCombs James Holland McCombs (August 5, 1901 – June 29, 1991) was an American journalist. Born in Martin, Tennessee, Holland McCombs became a correspondent for ''Time'' magazine in 1935, and later bureau chief for ''Time'' and ''Life'' in Rio de Ja ...

. *''Toni Frissell: Photographs: 1933-1967.'' Doubleday, 1994. . With an introduction by

George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...

and a foreword by Sidney Frissell Stafford.

Publications of others with illustrations by Frissell

*''

A Child's Garden of Verses ''A Child's Garden of Verses'' is an 1885 volume of 64 poems for children by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It has been reprinted many times, often in illustrated versions, and is considered to be one of the most influential child ...

.'' 1944. *''Bermuda: The Happy Island.'' 1946. *''

Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howeve ...

.'' 1948. *''Tethered.'' 2008. By Amy MacKinnon. *''Bob and Helen Kleberg of King Ranch.'' 2017. .Bob and Helen Kleberg of King Ranch
Trinity University Press. Accessed 20 June 2017

References

https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/toni-frissell?all/all/all/all/0

External links

* The

has a large collection of her photographs on pages about her, but apparently no single list of all of them. *
Toni Frissell Collection:Prints and Photographs Division
Even more photos are not yet digitized *

** ttps://www.loc.gov/exhibits/wcf/wcf0008.html Toni Frissell - Women Come to the Front (Library of Congress Exhibition)World War II photographs *
Toni Frissell Collection (Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firssel, Toni 1907 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American photographers Deaths from dementia in New York (state) Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Artists from New York City People from Manhattan 20th-century American women photographers American photojournalists Women photojournalists