Toni Frissell
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encyclopedia)
Toni Frissell, or Antoinette
Frissell Bacon, (March 10, 1907 - April 17, 1988) was an American
photographer, known for her fashion photography, World War II photographs,
portraits of famous Americans and Europeans, children, and women from all
walks of life.
Antoinette Frissell was born in 1907 in New York City, New York, but took
photos under the name Toni Frissell, even after her marriage to Manhattan
socialite McNeil Bacon. She worked with many famous photographers of the
day, as an apprentice to Cecil Beaton, and with advice from Edward
Steichen. Her initial job, as a fashion photographer for Vogue in 1931,
was due to Condé Montrose Nast personally. She later took photographs for
Harper's Bazaar. Her fashion photos, even of evening gowns and such, were
often notable for their outdoor settings, emphasizing active women.
In 1941, Frissell volunteered her photographic services to the American
Red Cross. Later she worked for the Eighth Army Air Force and became the
official photographer of the Women's Army Corps. On their behalf, she took
thousands of images of nurses, front-line soldiers, WACs, African-American
airmen, and orphaned children. She traveled to the European front twice.
Her moving photographs of military women and African American fighter
pilots in the elite 332d Fighter Group (the "Tuskegee Airmen") were used
to encourage public support for women and blacks in the service.
In the 1950's, she took informal portraits of the famous and powerful in
the United States and Europe, including Winston Churchill, Eleanor
Roosevelt, and John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy, and worked for Sports
Illustrated and Life magazines. Continuing her interest in active women
and sports, she was the first woman on the staff of Sports Illustrated in
1953, and continued to be one of very few female sport photographers for
several decades.
In later work she concentrated on photographing women from all walks of
life, often as a commentary on the human condition.
