Louise Emma Augusta Dahl (
November 19,
1895 in
San Francisco,
California –
December 11,
1989) was a photographer, known primarily for her work for
Harper's Bazaar with fashion editor
Diana Vreeland.
Born to Norwegian parents, Dahl-Wolfe was known for taking photographs outdoors, with natural light in distant locations from
South America to
Africa in what became known as "environmental" fashion photography. She married sculptor
Meyer Wolfe, who constructed the backgrounds of many of her photos.
She preferred portraiture to fashion photography. Notable portraits include:
Mae West,
Cecil Beaton,
Eudora Welty,
W. H. Auden,
Christopher Isherwood,
Orson Welles,
Carson McCullers,
Edward Hopper,
Colette and
Josephine Baker. She is known for having "discovered" a teenage
Lauren Bacall. She was a great influence on photographers
Irving Penn and
Richard Avedon. One of her assistants was
Milton H. Greene.
The full archive of Dahl-Wolfe's work is located at the
Center for Creative Photography (CCP) at the
University of Arizona in
Tucson, which also manages the copyright of her work.
Books
- Dahl-Wolfe, Louise. Louise Dahl-Wolfe: A Photographer’s Scrapbook. New York: St. Martin’s/Marek, 1984.
See also
