John Swope (photographer)
| John Swope | |
|---|---|
 John Swope (on left) with Henry Fonda and James Stewart in 'The Spirt of '76', 1937 | |
| Born |
August 23, 1908 New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died |
May 11, 1979 (aged 70) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Known for | Photography |
| Spouse(s) | Dorothy McGuire (m. 1943-1979; his death) |
| Website | http://www.craigkrullgallery.com/Swope.J/ |
John Swope (August 23, 1908 – May 11, 1979) was a photographer for Life Magazine,[1][2] and a pilot.[2]
Biography
He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1908.[3]
He attended Harvard University in 1930. There, he joined the theatrical group University Players where Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, and Joshua Logan were also members.[4]
His interest in photography began when he brought a camera to a yacht race from Los Angeles to Hawaii in 1936.[3]
Together with Leland Hayward and John H. Connelly, he co-founded Southwest Airways (no connection to the present day Southwest Airlines), a company that developed the Thunderbird Fields, which trained thousands of military pilots during the Second World War.[2][5]
He was married to actress Dorothy McGuire in 1943 until his death in May 11, 1979.[6]
Career
He started his career by documenting federal housing projects, a part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal Program.[7]
1936 - He worked as an assistant to Leland Heyward.[8]
1938 - He was commissioned to photograph the work of nurses in Harlem and the Lower East Side by Henry Street Settlement House.[3]
1939 - He was assigned by Harper's Bazaar in South America with Josh Logan.[3]
1941 - He began training Aviation cadets in Thunderbird Airfield right after he joined the Army.[7]
1942 - He collaborated with John Steinbeck on an illustrated book, Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team, which documented the training of army cadets.[7]
1945 - He joined the Naval Reserve as a photographer. His first assignment, in June 1945, was to photograph an overseas military flight from Maryland to Paris.[9]
1946 - Began his freelancing career again after his discharge from the Navy. He produced a theatrical play at the La Jolla Playhouse.[7]
1975 - Photographed palaces of the maharajahs in India for the James Ivory book, Autobiography of a Princess[10]
Influences
John Swope broke the mold of Hollywood's glamour shots when he burst in the scene in 1936.[11] What makes his work unique is how he used available light, shot from unusual angles, and informal portraits. This might come from his influence of Mondrian's use of linear space.[12]
Exhibitions
- A Letter from Japan: The Photographs of John Swope - taken in August 1945 documents the devastation caused by World War II. This photographic essay was complemented by a 144-page letter to his wife Dorothy McGuire describing in detail his emotional experience when shooting these images.[7][13][14][15]
- Swope's photography has been the subject of five solo exhibitions at Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica, California; "Trees" in 2006, "New York" in 2005, "Photographs" in 2003, "Camera over Hollywood" in 2001, and "A View from Above" in 1996.[16]
Books
External links
References
- ↑ "John Swope at Craig Krull Gallery". Craig Krull Gallery. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
Swope was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1908. ... died in Los Angeles in 1979.
- 1 2 3 "Arizona Memory Project : Browse". Azmemory.lib.az.us. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 http://www.craigkrullgallery.com/Swope.J/biography.html. "John Swope at Craig Krull Gallery". Craigkrullgallery.com. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- ↑ S Ballard (2010-04-11). "notredamephoto: John Swope". Notredamephoto.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
- ↑ "Oldies and Oddities: Tinseltown’s Training Base". Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
They enlisted John Swope, a commercial pilot and photographer who had once shared a bachelor pad with Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda and who would later collaborate with John Steinbeck on the book Bombs Away.
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0570192/bio
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center". Tfaoi.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
- ↑ "Camera Over Hollywood: Photographs by John Swope, 1936-1938 - Presentation House Gallery". Absolutearts.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
- ↑ "Three American Photographers, Block Museum, Northwestern University". Blockmuseum.northwestern.edu. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
- 1 2 "John Swope Exhibit Shows the True Face of Hollywood | Art Business News | Find Articles at BNET". Findarticles.com. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- ↑ "John Swope Exhibit Shows the True Face of Hollywood.(Brief Article) - Art Business News | HighBeam Research - FREE trial". Highbeam.com. November 1, 2000. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- ↑ http://www.craigkrullgallery.com/Swope.J/biography.html. "John Swope at Craig Krull Gallery". Craigkrullgallery.com. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- ↑ "Steidl". Steidlville.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
- ↑ "A Letter from Japan - Exhibitions - Hammer Museum". Hammer.ucla.edu. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
- ↑ "Sake-Drenched Postcards - John Swope: A Letter from Japan". Bigempire.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
- ↑ "Past Exhibitions at Craig Krull Gallery". craigkrullgallery.com.
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