(b Saint Louis, MO, 3 Nov 1903; d New Haven, CT, 10 April 1975). American photographer and writer. He grew up in Kenilworth, a suburb of Chicago, but moved to New York with his mother after his parents separated. Primarily interested in literature, he sat in on lectures at the Sorbonne in Paris (1926-7), visited museums and bookshops, and thought of becoming a writer. In 1928 he acquired a camera and, out of frustration over his inability to find work and develop a literary means of expression, he decided to become a photographer. Intermittent assignments instigated by friends such as Lincoln Kirstein made it possible for him to live a bohemian life in Greenwich Village, where he met the writers Hart Crane (1899-1932) and James Agee (1909-55) and the artist Ben Shahn, with whom he worked and shared a house for a short time. Within this circle he found his early influences.

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