Sonya noskowiak
Encyclopedia
Sonya Noskowiak was an American photographer and member of the famous San Francisco photography collective Group f/64
that included Ansel Adams
and Edward Weston
.
, Germany
. Her father was a landscape gardener who instilled in her an awareness of the land that would later become evident in her photography. In her early years she moved around the world while her father sought work in Chile
, then Panama
and finally in California
. In 1915, the family moved to the Los Angeles basin in California, and in 1919 she moved to San Francisco to enroll in secretarial school. While in San Francisco she began working for photographer Johan Hagemeyer
, and he taught her the basics of the trade. Through Hagemeyer she met Edward Weston
, and from 1929 to 1935 she lived with him as a lover, student, model, printer of his commercial photographs and surrogate mother to his children. While with Weston she developed a strong vision of her own, and she quickly became known for her portraits and artistic images. She continued taking and selling photographs through the 1950s. In 1965 she was diagnosed with bone cancer, and she died ten years later in Marin County, California.
's studio in the 1920s that Noskowiak realized her true calling was in photography. But it was not until 1929, when she met Edward Weston
, that she began to fully develop her talents. She soon became Weston’s darkroom assistant, and he taught her both the craft and the artistry of the camera. Soon she was turning her lens on architectural subjects and capturing the strong profiles of bridges, lighthouses and water towers. Following Weston’s lead she then began to look at patterns in nature, which she photographed with a distinct style that “suggests the coherence of the natural world.” Dora Hagemeyer (wife of Johan) wrote that while Noskowiak's photographic style was clean and direct like Weston's, she "put into her work something which is essentially her own: a subtle and delicate loveliness."
In 1932 Noskowiak became an organizing member of the short-lived Group f/64
, which included such important photographers as Ansel Adams
, Imogen Cunningham
, Willard Van Dyke
, Weston and his son Brett
. Members of f/64 believed that photography was an art form in itself, and so photography did not need to follow the norms of the fine arts in order to be defined as art. Noskowiak's works were shown at Group f/64's inaugural exhibition at San Francisco's M. H. de Young Museum; she had nine photographs in the exhibit – the same number as Weston.
Her photos were eventually shown at various one-woman shows at the Ansel Adams Gallery, the Denny-Watrous Gallery in Carmel, California, and at Willard van Dyke's 683 Gallery in Oakland, California. She was also included in several group exhibitions in Bay Area museums. Noskowiak drifted away from Group f/64 some time in 1934, perhaps when her relationship with Weston frayed and perhaps because other members of the group were going their separate ways.
She went on to record such luminaries of her time as Jean Charlot
, John Steinbeck
, and Martha Graham
. The portrait of Steinbeck is particularly powerful, and is one of only a handful of images of the writer in the 1930s. It is used extensively to this day.
Noskowiak opened her own studio, probably in 1935. In 1936, she was one of eight photographers, including Weston, selected for the California region of the Federal Arts Project. She spent the next year photographing California artists and their paintings, sculptures and murals. These images then toured to a variety of public institutions. Though she continued to photograph as an artist, Noskowiak's livelihood from the 1940s on was based on portraiture, fashion and architectural images. Noskowiak retired from photography in 1965, and she died in 1975 in Greenbrae, California
.
Her archives, including 494 prints, hundreds of negatives and many letters to Edward Weston, are now housed at the Center for Creative Photography
in Tucson, Arizona
.
Group f/64
Group f/64 was a group of seven 20th century San Francisco photographers who shared a common photographic style characterized by sharp-focused and carefully framed images seen through a particularly Western viewpoint...
that included Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
and Edward Weston
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
.
Life
Noskowiak was born in LeipzigLeipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Her father was a landscape gardener who instilled in her an awareness of the land that would later become evident in her photography. In her early years she moved around the world while her father sought work in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, then Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and finally in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In 1915, the family moved to the Los Angeles basin in California, and in 1919 she moved to San Francisco to enroll in secretarial school. While in San Francisco she began working for photographer Johan Hagemeyer
Johan Hagemeyer
Johan Hagemeyer was a Dutch born horticulturalist and vegetarian who is remembered primarily for being an early 20th century photographer and artistic intellectual...
, and he taught her the basics of the trade. Through Hagemeyer she met Edward Weston
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
, and from 1929 to 1935 she lived with him as a lover, student, model, printer of his commercial photographs and surrogate mother to his children. While with Weston she developed a strong vision of her own, and she quickly became known for her portraits and artistic images. She continued taking and selling photographs through the 1950s. In 1965 she was diagnosed with bone cancer, and she died ten years later in Marin County, California.
Photography
It was while working at Johan HagemeyerJohan Hagemeyer
Johan Hagemeyer was a Dutch born horticulturalist and vegetarian who is remembered primarily for being an early 20th century photographer and artistic intellectual...
's studio in the 1920s that Noskowiak realized her true calling was in photography. But it was not until 1929, when she met Edward Weston
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
, that she began to fully develop her talents. She soon became Weston’s darkroom assistant, and he taught her both the craft and the artistry of the camera. Soon she was turning her lens on architectural subjects and capturing the strong profiles of bridges, lighthouses and water towers. Following Weston’s lead she then began to look at patterns in nature, which she photographed with a distinct style that “suggests the coherence of the natural world.” Dora Hagemeyer (wife of Johan) wrote that while Noskowiak's photographic style was clean and direct like Weston's, she "put into her work something which is essentially her own: a subtle and delicate loveliness."
In 1932 Noskowiak became an organizing member of the short-lived Group f/64
Group f/64
Group f/64 was a group of seven 20th century San Francisco photographers who shared a common photographic style characterized by sharp-focused and carefully framed images seen through a particularly Western viewpoint...
, which included such important photographers as Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
, Imogen Cunningham
Imogen Cunningham
Imogen Cunningham was an American photographer known for her photography of botanicals, nudes and industry.-Life and career:...
, Willard Van Dyke
Willard Van Dyke
Willard Van Dyke was an American filmmaker and photographer who believed that photography could have a major influence on the world....
, Weston and his son Brett
Brett Weston
Brett Weston was an American photographer and grew up in LA. He was the second son of photographer Edward Weston. Van Deren Coke, former curator of the San Francisco Museum of Art referred to Brett Weston as the "child genius of American photography." Brett began taking photographs in 1925 and...
. Members of f/64 believed that photography was an art form in itself, and so photography did not need to follow the norms of the fine arts in order to be defined as art. Noskowiak's works were shown at Group f/64's inaugural exhibition at San Francisco's M. H. de Young Museum; she had nine photographs in the exhibit – the same number as Weston.
Her photos were eventually shown at various one-woman shows at the Ansel Adams Gallery, the Denny-Watrous Gallery in Carmel, California, and at Willard van Dyke's 683 Gallery in Oakland, California. She was also included in several group exhibitions in Bay Area museums. Noskowiak drifted away from Group f/64 some time in 1934, perhaps when her relationship with Weston frayed and perhaps because other members of the group were going their separate ways.
She went on to record such luminaries of her time as Jean Charlot
Jean Charlot
Louis Henri Jean Charlot was a French painter and illustrator, active in Mexico and the United States. Charlot was born in Paris. His father, Henri, owned an import-export business and was a Russian-born émigré, albeit one who supported the Bolshevik cause. His mother Anna was herself an artist...
, John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
, and Martha Graham
Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
. The portrait of Steinbeck is particularly powerful, and is one of only a handful of images of the writer in the 1930s. It is used extensively to this day.
Noskowiak opened her own studio, probably in 1935. In 1936, she was one of eight photographers, including Weston, selected for the California region of the Federal Arts Project. She spent the next year photographing California artists and their paintings, sculptures and murals. These images then toured to a variety of public institutions. Though she continued to photograph as an artist, Noskowiak's livelihood from the 1940s on was based on portraiture, fashion and architectural images. Noskowiak retired from photography in 1965, and she died in 1975 in Greenbrae, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Her archives, including 494 prints, hundreds of negatives and many letters to Edward Weston, are now housed at the Center for Creative Photography
Center for Creative Photography
The Center for Creative Photography , established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American photographers including those of Edward Weston, Harry Callahan and Garry...
in Tucson, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.