Historical Photographer

Arthur Rothstein

Arthur Rothstein, Dust Bowl, 1936

 Arthur Rothstein is a fascinating figure in the history of American photography. Born in New York City on July 17, 1915, Rothstein was a premier photojournalist and documentary photographer who was greatly concerned with the betterment of society. His work had a very wide range featuring sporting events to war, rural farmers to U.S. presidents, weather and more. Although he often photographed people living in difficult conditions, his compositions were picturesque and he always strived to maintain the dignity of his subjects and to find the beauty in their surroundings. His composition, Dust Bowl, shown above, shows a father and his two sons walking through a dust storm in Cimarron County, Oklahoma. Rothstein's black and white photos had great depth and interest.

 Rothstein was educated and the Columbia University where his contacts eventually led to his co-founding the Farm Security Administration which later became a part of the Office of War Information (OWI) for WWII. He joined the signal corps as a photographer in the U.S. Army and was stationed in China, Burma, and India throughout wartime. In the post-war era he worked as the chief photographer for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. 

 Rothstein was a founder and innovator throughout his career. He won 35 photojournalism awards, was a former juror for the Pulitzer Prize, and was the sole founder of the American Society of Magazine Photographers. Among his many innovations was his instrumental involvement in the development of the Xograph, a printing process that for the first time allowed mass production of pictures that appeared to be three dimensional.