James Abbe

(b Alfred, ME, 17 July 1883; d San Francisco, 11 Nov 1973). American photographer. Self-taught, he started to produce photographs at the age of 12. From 1898 to 1910 he worked in his father's bookshop and then worked as a reporter for the Washington Post, travelling to Europe in 1910. Having earlier produced photographs of ships and sailors for tourist cards, from 1913 to 1917 he worked as a freelance photojournalist in Virginia. In 1917 he set up a studio in New York, where he produced the first photographic cover for the Saturday Evening Post as well as photographs for Ladies Home Journal, the New York Times and other publications. From 1922 to 1923 he worked as a stills photographer, actor and writer for film studios. Though this was mainly for Mack Sennett in Hollywood, he also worked for D. W. Griffiths as a stills photographer on Way Down East (1920) and accompanied Lilian Gish to Italy to provide stills for Griffiths's The White Sister (1923). After establishing a studio in Paris in 1924 he had his photographs published in such journals as Harper's Bazaar, L'Illustration, New York Herald Tribune, The Tatler, Vanity Fair, Vogue and Vu. He photographed film stars and the Moulin Rouge in Paris and also produced fashion pictures, such as Natasha Rambova in Fortuny Gown (c. 1924; see Hall-Duncan, p. 41).

See the Abbreviations for further details.

Abbe, James (1883-1973), American photographer, born in Alfred, Maine. He developed a precocious talent for photography and, still in his teens, became a photo-reporter in Newport News, Virginia, then Washington, DC. Moving to New York in 1917, he was soon sought after in the theatre world as a portraitist, publishing in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Saturday Evening Post, and other popular magazines. He was also active in the still vibrant New York film industry, photographing Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Rudolph Valentino, and many others. In 1923 Abbe moved to Europe and for ten years shuttled between the London and Parisian theatre and film scenes. Ever curious and adaptable, he took up photojournalism and documented political turmoil from Mexico to the USSR, his pictures appearing in papers such as Vu and the Berliner illustrierte Zeitung. He returned to the USA in 1936 after photographing the Spanish Civil War, eventually becoming a radio broadcaster. Years after his death and almost forgotten, Abbe received a major retrospective show at the National Portrait Gallery, London (1995).

— Tim Troy

Bibliography

• James Abbe, Photographer (2000)

James Abbe (July 17, 1883 – November 11, 1975)^[1] was an American photographer.

Abbe became known for taking many photographs of theater and movie performers starting in 1917.

In the late 1920s he gained a reputation in news photography. He was also known for his fashion photography, including celebrated work for American Vogue.

His son, James Abbe, also was a photographer who worked for Harper's Bazaar.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Abbe, James." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 9 Feb. 2009
2. ^ "James Abbe, Photographer and Art Dealer, 87", The New York Times, 21 October 1999.

• Jeffrey, Ian et al. (1997). The Photography Book. London:Phaidon Press Limited. ISBN 0-7148-4488-8

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