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Eve Arnold began photographing while working at a photo-finishing plant in New York City in 1946. In 1954, Arnold's fresh quality and intelligent choice of subject matter brought her to the attention of Robert Capa, the head of Magnum Photos, the prestigious international cooperative of photographers. Capa invited her to join the group, and she became its first American woman member. Her mastery of the colour processes and techniques popular in the 50s was extensive and assured, although she worked for preference in black-and-white.
Arnold became a star photographer for Life magazine during its heyday, capturing public figures such as Senator Joseph McCarthy and General Eisenhower at revealingly unguarded moments. She had a special affinity with Marilyn Monroe, whom she met when both were relatively unknown. "She was going places but she hadn't arrived," Arnold recalled. "It became a bond between us... Marilyn was very important in my career. I think I was helpful in hers."
She was based in America during the 1950s and came to England in 1962 to put her son to school at Bedales. Except for a six year hiatus, (when she worked in America and China to prepare a book on each of those countries), Eve Arnold has been based in Britain.
Following her photography of China, she had her first major solo exhibition of her China work at the Brooklyn Museum in 1980. That same year, she received the National Book Award for her book In China.
She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Magazine Photographers in 1980. In 1995 she was made a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and was elected "Master Photographer" - the world's most prestigious photographic honor - awarded by New York's International Center of Photography.
In 1996 she was the recipient of the Kraszna-Krausz Book Award for her book In Retrospect.
In 1997 Eve was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from Staffordshire University, as well as the degree Doctor of Humanities from Richmond, the American International University in London.
The same year she was appointed a member of the Advisory Committee of the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in Bradford.
In 2003, she was awarded an honorary O.B.E. (Order of the British Empire) by the British Government.
Arnold also captured the lives of ordinary people, exploring such themes as birth, family, tragedy and racial prejudice. In the early 1960s, Arnold moved to London to work on the newly launched Sunday Times colour magazine. In addition to photographing statesmen and showbiz celebrities, she also made a photographic record of the status of women around the world.
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Eve Arnold's Work
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