|
Esther Bubley : Superior's Unknown
Daughter
Duluth News Tribune (MN) -
Friday, May 6, 2011
Author: Story by J.L. Kuhlman,
photographs courtesy of the Duluth Art Institute, Duluth News Tribune
Even with a resume that includes Vogue, LIFE Magazine,
Ladies’ Home Journal and National Geographic, Superior native Esther Bubley
has gone virtually unknown in the Twin Ports. A photojournalist in the heyday
of photojournalism between the 1940s and 1960s, this daughter of Russian
Jewish immigrants forged her way in a field not particularly friendly to
women.
After graduating from Superior Central High School, Bubley
attended Superior State Teachers College (now the University of
Wisconsin-Superior) for two years and Minneapolis School of Design for an
additional year. At the time, most working women became teachers, court
reporters, secretaries or nurses– positions traditionally viewed as female
professions.
But not Bubley . She left for New York to pursue a career in
photography, a strongly male-dominated field. Despite religious and
gender-oriented social barriers, Bubley carved her own
personal niche and became successful. She became the protégé of Roy Stryker
at the Office of War Information (OWI), beginning in 1942 as a darkroom
assistant. When
Stryker left the OWI to work for Standard Oil of New Jersey, he hired several
of the photographers, including Bubley .
Bubley primarily composed photojournalism pieces depicting
the way Americans live, regular people doing everyday tasks.
"Put me down with people, and it's just overwhelming," Bubley
once said of her own work.
Housewives doing tasks in the home, children playing in the streets, patients
in a mental institution, people traveling by bus, farmers working their land
– none of these were too common for Bubley’s time and
attention.
Her work was not intended to give the social elite a window into the world of
“the rest of them,” her work was a report of, and for, common America.
In a biographical essay about Bubley , John R. Whiting
wrote, “She is not reporting how the lower-middle-brows live for the eyes of
Greenwich Village or Radio City. She is reporting a much larger picture of
American life – for a much larger audience.”
And much further than the confines of her native Twin Ports. Her first
cousin, Allan Apter of Duluth, recalls a visit with her after her renown had
spread.
“I had dinner with her once when she was in Minneapolis for an exhibit and
came up here to take pictures of ore boats,”he said, describing it as a
pleasant time but “nothing more than you would do for any out-of-town
visitor.”
Still, the family was well-aware of her accomplishments.
“Oh, certainly. There was an element of pride because she was a recognized
photojournalist.”
In addition to her photos depicting American life, Bubley
also photographed celebrities, such personalities as jazz musician Charlie
Parker. “Though most people don’t recognize her name, they often recognize a
particular photograph,” says Samantha Gibb Roff, executive director of the
Duluth Art Institute. One of her most iconic images was taken of Albert
Einstein on his 74th birthday.
The Duluth Art Institute plans to introduce the Twin Ports to one of its own,
Esther Bubley , through an exhibit made possible by a grant
from the Depot Foundation. Running from May 12 to August 7, the exhibit will
showcase many of her framed prints, some unknown, some surprisingly
recognizable. In addition to Bubley’s photos, the Duluth Art
Institute will also feature tours, talks and films to accompany the
exhibition.
|