Bubley, Esther (1921–1998)

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Bubley, Esther (1921–1998)

American photographer. Born in Phillips, Wisconsin, Feb 16, 1921; died Mar 16, 1998, in New York, NY; dau. of Louis and Ida Bubley (Russian immigrants); attended Superior State Teachers College, Superior, Wisconsin, 1937–38; studied art and photography at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, 1939; briefly married to Edwin Locke (writer).

One of the nation's top women photographers, known for her use of "picture story" technique, spent some of her early years in Washington, DC, microfilming rare books at the National Archives; got her break in NY, freelancing for Roy Stryker, then director of Standard Oil's photographic activities (1943); worked on photojournalism assignments for Ladies' Home Journal series, "How America Lives" (1948–60); also did a number of assignments for Life, McCall's, Woman's Day, Saturday Evening Post and Good Housekeeping; photographs were featured in an exhibition curated by Edward Steichen at Museum of Modern Art in New York (1948); was also represented in 2 other Steichen exhibitions at MoMA: Diogenes with a Camera (1952) and The Family of Man (1955).

See also Women in World History.