Ruth Orkin
Ruth Orkin (September 3, 1921 – January 16, 1985) was an American photographer, photojournalist, and filmmaker, with ties to New York City and Hollywood. Known for her photograph An American Girl in Italy (1951), she photographed many celebrities and personalities including Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Ava Gardner, Tennessee Williams, Marlon Brando, and Alfred Hitchcock.
Also recorded as Orkin, Ruth, 1921-1985
Ruth Orkin

Pavel Bednařík (WMCZ) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1921. · Boston.
- Died
- 1985. · New York City.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- film director, photographer, screenwriter, film producer, film editor and cinematographer.
- Fields
- photography, street photography and photojournalism.
- Education
- Los Angeles City College.
- Known for
- American Girl in Italy.
- Languages
- English.
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Documentary summary
Ruth Orkin (September 3, 1921 – January 16, 1985) was an American photographer, photojournalist, and filmmaker, with ties to New York City and Hollywood. Known for her photograph An American Girl in Italy (1951), she photographed many celebrities and personalities including Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Ava Gardner, Tennessee Williams, Marlon Brando, and Alfred Hitchcock.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q469449 · wikipedia · Ruth Orkin
In this article
Early life, education and early career
Early life, education and early career
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.
Other
Other
Certificate of Merit, Municipal Art Society of New York, 1984
Exhibits
Exhibits
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
Personal life
Personal life
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.

Mediální olympiáda 2024 v Ostravě 14, Galerie výtvarného umění v Ostravě, výstava Ruth Orkin
Pavel Bednařík (WMCZ)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1985
Ruth Orkin died at New York City.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Boston.
Birth place
New York City.
Death place
Filmmaking
In 1952, Orkin married photographer, filmmaker and fellow Photo League member Morris Engel. Orkin and Engel collaborated on two major independent feature films, Little Fugitive (1953) and Lovers and Lollipops (1956).
Books
The World Through My Window, Harper and Row, 1978 ISBN 9780060132934 A Photo Journal: Ruth Orkin, The Viking Press, 1981 ISBN 9780670552528 More Pictures from My Window, Rizzoli, 1983 ISBN 9780847804764
Photography
Photography
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.
Return to photography
Return to photography
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).
Photography
Photography
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
Films
Films
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
Teaching
Orkin taught photography at the School of Visual Arts in the late 1970s, and at the International Center of Photography in 1980.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q469449: Ruth Orkin
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Ruth Orkin”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- Orkin, Ruth (1921-1985), photographer and filmmaker, American National Biography Online, 2000
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2000
Awards
Source:
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Career. Ruth Orkin Photo Archive.
- 2.Sam Orkin's Navy.
- 3.Samuel Orkin Boat Ship Battleship 1914 Catalog reproduction | #526782494.
- 4.Biography. Ruth Orkin Photo Archive.
- 5.Fondiller, Henry V. Ruth Orkin, 1921-1985. Popular Photography. 92. 5. 156. May 1985.
- 6.Biography. Ruth Orkin Photo Archive.
- 7.Style of Sport features Ruth's Bicycle Trip from 1939. www.orkinphoto.com. 4 November 2015.
- 8.Svendsgaard, Lisabeth G. Ruth Orkin. American National Biography Online. n.d.
- 9.Grundberg, Andy. RUTH ORKIN, PHOTOJOURNALIST AND FILM MAKER, DEAD AT 63. The New York Times. 1985-01-17. 0362-4331.
- 10.30 By 30: Patt Blue / Ruth Orkin Professional Women Photographers Blog. www.pwponline.org. 28 March 2012.
- 11.Koszarski, Richard. "Keep 'Em in the East": Kazan, Kubrick, and the Postwar New York Film Renaissance. Columbia University Press. 336. 2021.
- 12.Morgan, Ann Lee. The Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists. Oxford University Press. 2007. 9780195373219.
- 13.Ackerberg, Erica. She Started With a 39-Cent Camera. She Ended Up in Magazines. The New York Times. 2024-03-22. 0362-4331.
- 14.Coffey, LT. At 83, subject of 'American Girl in Italy' photo speaks out. MSNBC. August 18, 2011.
- 15.Krumboltz, M. American girl in Italy: 60 years later. The Lookout. August 19, 2011.
- 16.Career. Ruth Orkin Photo Archive.
- 17.Andrews, Blake. Ruth Orkin, Bike Trip USA, 1939. Collector Daily. 2024-09-20.
- 18.National Museum of Women in the Arts. Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move Exhibition.
- 19.Awards Feature: Director Todd Haynes Finds Inspiration for 'Carol' in Obscure Docudrama's "Lost Language of Femininity" SSN Insider. www.ssninsider.com.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Orkin, Ruth (1921-1985), photographer and filmmaker, American National Biography Online, 2000Crossref registry
Verifiedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q469449: Ruth OrkinWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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