Ruth Orkin

Ruth Orkin studied at Los Angeles City College. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is photography, street photography and photojournalism. Places of work recorded in the authority are New York City and Hollywood. Works named in the authority record are American Girl in Italy. Work by Ruth Orkin is recorded in the collections of Minneapolis Institute of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Ruth Orkin was born on September 3, 1921, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Mary Ruby and Samuel Orkin. Ruth grew up in Hollywood, due to her mother's career as a silent film actress. In 1931, she received her first camera, a 39-cent Univex, and soon began experimenting by taking photographs of her friends and teachers at school. At the age of 17, she decided to bike across America, beginning in Los Angeles, and ending in New York City for the 1939 World's Fair. She completed the trip in three weeks' time, taking photographs along the way. She briefly attended Los Angeles City College for photojournalism in 1940, prior to becoming the first messenger girl at MGM Studios in 1941, citing a desire to become a cinematographer. She left the position after discovering the union's discriminatory practices that did not allow female members. She joined the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps during World War II, in 1941 in an attempt to gain filmmaking skills, as advertisements promoting the group promised. The attempt was not fruitful, however, and she was discharged in 1943 without any filmmaking training.

Certificate of Merit, Municipal Art Society of New York, 1984

Ruth Orkin: Retrospective. Nikon House, New York City Ruth Orkin: Retrospective. Lumiere Brothers Center of Photography, Moscow. January, 2012 [1] Ruth Orkin + Morris Engel, Fondazione Stelline, Milan, June 26–August 3, 2014 [2] Retrospective, Fotografiska, New York, 2021 [3] Ruth Orkin, Museo Civico di Bassano, Bassano del Grappa, Italy. 2022 [4] Mostra Ruth Orkin, una nuova scoperta. Musei Reali, Turin. March 17 – July 16, 2023 [5] Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. December 12, 2025 – March 29, 2026

She and husband, Morris Engel, had two children: Andy and Mary Engel. After a long, private battle with cancer, Orkin died of the disease at her New York City apartment on January 16, 1985.

In 1943, Orkin moved to New York City in pursuit of a career as a freelance photojournalist. She began working as a nightclub photographer. She photographed Leonard Bernstein in 1947 for The New York Times. Shortly after, her freelance career grew as she traveled internationally on assignments and contributed photographs to Life, Look, Ladies' Home Journal, and others. Orkin is credited with breaking into a heavily male field. Orkin's most-celebrated image is An American Girl in Italy (1951). The subject of the later-iconic photograph was 23-year-old Ninalee Craig (known then as Jinx Allen). The photograph was part of a series originally titled "Don't Be Afraid to Travel Alone." The image depicted Craig as a young woman confidently walking past a group of ogling Italian men in Florence. The photo is generally recognized as having been staged. However, in recent articles written about the pair, Craig claims that the image was not staged, and was one of many taken throughout the day, aiming to show the fun of traveling alone.

After the success of the two films, Orkin returned to photography, taking color shots of Central Park as seen through her apartment window. The resulting photographs were collected in two books, A World Through My Window (1978) and More Pictures from My Window (1983).

3rd-Prize Winner, LIFE Magazine's Young Photographer's Contest, 1951 One of Top-Ten Women Photographers in the U.S., Professional Photographers of America, 1959 1st-Annual Manhattan Cultural Award, Photography, 1980

Little Fugitive, 1953 editor, co-director and co-writer Academy Award nomination, Best Original Screenplay Silver Lion, Venice Film Festival Lovers and Lollipops, 1956 editor, co-producer, co-director and co-writer The film served as inspiration for Carol (film), according to Director Todd Haynes