Louis Stettner
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Louis Stettner (b 1922) is a one of the great American photographers of the 20th Century. His work includes streetscapes, portraits and architectural images of New York and Paris. His work has been highly regarded because of its humanity and capturing the life and reality of the people and streets of Paris and New York. Since 1947, Louis has photographed Paris and New York capturing the changes in the people, culture, and architecture of both cities. Now in his 80s, he continues to photograph New York and Paris with great vigor and insight.
Over 200 images of his work can be seen at www.loustettner.com
Louis Stettner was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, one of four children. His father was a cabinet maker and he learned the trade at a young age using the money to support his growing love of photography. He was given a box camera as a child and his love affair with photography began. His family went on trips to Manhattan and visited museums including the Metropolitan Museum Art where he began his love of art.
At the age of 18 in the 1940, he enlisted in the army and became a combat photographer in Europe for the Signal Corps. After a brief stint in Europe he was sent to the Pacific theater. Following WWII, Stettner visited Paris in 1946 and realized it would be his future home. He later moved to Paris and received his Bachelor of Arts, Photography & Cinema I.D.H.E.C. at Paris University. He went back and forth between New York and Paris for almost two decades and finally permanently settled outside of Paris in 1990. Louis lives there now with his family and still returns to New York frequently to work and relax.
Louis’ professional work in Paris began with capturing life in the war ravaged streets where he looked to capture the ordinary, every day lives of his subjects. He wanted to find the humanity and bonds that connected people regardless of class. In 1947 he was tasked with organizing an exhibition of French photographers in New York. He gathered the works of some of the greatest photographers of the era: Doisneau, Brassai, and Ronis among others. The show ultimately was a big success. Stettner had begun a series of regular meetings with Brassai who was a great mentor and had significant influence on his work. In 1949, Stettner had his first exhibition at the “Salon des Indépendants," Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
In his own work, Stettner focused on documenting the lives of the working class in both Paris and New York. He felt and still believes that the cities belong to the people that live there, not the tourist and visitors. His upbringing caused him to take great care in capturing the simple human dignity of the working class. He also captured great architectural images of both cities including bridges, buildings and monuments.
The subjects and series included:
New York 1946 to present
The Penn Station Series
The Subways Series
Wall Street Series
Brooklyn Bridge
The Seine Series
The Bowery
The Workers Series
Early Paris
His work has resulted in iconic images including: Aubervilliers, Brooklyn Promenade, Twin Towers with Sea Gull, Penn Station, and the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park among others.
His work has received numerous and honors and in 1950 he was named Life Magazine’s top new photographer. In 1975 he won First Prize in the Pravda World Contest.
Today, his work is widely collected and exhibited in number museums and collections including:
Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland
International Center of Photography, New York
Jewish Museum Berlin
Los Angeles County Museum of Art - LACMA, Los Angeles
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
Merrill Lynch Art Collection, New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Microsoft Art Collection, Seattle
Montana Museum of Art and Culture, Missoula, MT
Museu Carnavalet, Paris
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Musée de l’Elysee, Lausanne
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Museum of the City of New York
New York Public Library, New York
San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Whitney Museum of Art, New York
Select Exhibitions
2006 Full House - Views from the Whitney's Collection at 75, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY Louis Stettner: Photographien - Camera Work, Berlin Louis Stettner: Streetwise - Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY Fotografía Contemporánea Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago
2003 City Streets - Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL Photographies récentes par Louis Stettner - Galerie Marion Meyer, Paris
2002 Star Spangled Spirit - Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY
2001 What's New - Recent Acquisitions in Photography Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Selected Publications
Louis Stettner: Wisdom Cries Out In the Streets, Flammarion Press 1999
Louis Stettner's New York, Rizzoli 1997
Selected Books and Portfolios
Paris-New York, portfolio of 10 photographs, introduction by Brassaï (Paris: Two Cities Publications, 1949)
Women, portfolio of 22 photographs (New York: Stettner Studio 1976)
Sur le Tas, book of 156 photographs introduction by François Cavanna (Paris: Cercle d’Art, 1979)
Early Joys : Photographs from 1947-1972, introduction by Brassaï (New York: Janet Iffland Publisher, 1987)
Sous le ciel de Paris, introduction by François Cavanna (Paris : Parigramme, 1994)
Louis Stettner, introuctions by François Bernheim (Paris : Nathan, Collection Photo Poche, 1998)
Selected Essays and Books by Louis Stettner
35mm Photography, editor (U.S. Camera Co., 1956)
History of the Nude in American Photography, editor (New York: Fawcett Publications, 1966)
Weegee the Famous, editor (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978)
“Cézanne’s Apple and the Photo League,” Aperture, no. 112 (Fall 1988), pp. 14-35
