American girl in Italy, Florence
1951; printed 1980
Medium
gelatin silver photograph
Measurements
30.2 × 46.9 cm (image) 40.3 × 50.6 cm (sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2022
© Ruth Orkin/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia.
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work
In 1950 freelance photographer Ruth Orkin was included in the Young Photographers exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and in 1951 Life magazine sent her on assignment to Israel. Before returning to America, she spent time in Italy, where she met a young American painter, Jinx Allen. The women collaborated on a series of photographs commissioned from Orkin by Cosmopolitan magazine for an article titled ‘Don’t Be Afraid to Travel Alone’. Standing in a Florence intersection, Orkin captured her friend as she manoeuvred through a crowd of men. The resulting image is reminiscent of a movie still – Orkin would go on to co-direct two feature films with her husband in the 1950s.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Inscription
inscribed in fibre-tipped pen on sheet l.l.: American Girl in Italy, Florence, 1951
inscribed in fibre-tipped pen on sheet l.r.: ©1951, 1980 Ruth Orkin
Accession Number
2022.785
Department
International Photography