Ruth harriet louise biography

Ruth Harriet Louise (born Ruth Goldstein; January 13, 1903 – October 12, 1940) was an American photographer.
A gifted and sensitive photographer, Ruth Harriet Louise worked for less than ten years in her chosen profession, running her own studio for three years in.
Ruth Harriet Louise was an American photographer.

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Ruth Harriet Louise

Born Ruth Goldstein on 13^th January 1903 to British and Hungarian parents, Ruth’s life was filled with creative people well before she moved to Hollywood: her brother was Hollywood film director, writer, and producer Mark Sandrich; their mother, Karla Jacobsen Sandrich Goldstein, was a painter; and Ruth and Mark were also cousin to silent film actress Carmel Myers.

Growing up in New Jersey, Ruth started out as a portrait photographer for her Rabbi father, taking portraits of her father’s congregation. By 1922, she had set up her own studio which was a block away from her father’s place of work.

Although her mother encouraged her to study fine art, Ruth was determined to pursue photography. Like her brother Mark, Ruth was interested in the science that went into creating images with this still fairly new artistic medium. Her talent for creating compositions, and skill in chiaroscuro learned from her fine art background, was more suited to photography. Conversely, Mark’s career in film and photography came from studying engineering and working in a studio pr

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Bates College

Ruth Harriet Louise (American, 1903-1940)

Louise became the first woman photographer active in the Hollywood film industry. Working as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s head portrait photographer from 1925-1929, Louise captured beauty and nuance in her work, using portraiture to help her clients reach fame. Louise stamped her name on the back of each photograph which solidified her position in a male-dominated industry. Her photos were soft and ethereal; the photographs of actors Marceline Day, Ernest Gillen, and Marion Shilling reveal her skill for capturing the essence of actors and creating an image of Hollywood allure for MGM that traveled around the world.

Some of Louise’s most famous clients include Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Herbert Hoover, and Buster Keaton. Her work has been exhibited at major museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; and The National Gallery of Art and The National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.

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A Gallery of the Work of Ruth Harriet Louise, Photographer & Hollywood Pioneer

Greta Garbo, photographed by Ruth Harriet Louise

Ruth Harriet Louise, born Ruth Goldstein on this date in 1903, came to Los Angeles at only age 22 and set up a portrait photography studio in the booming Hollywood district where, providentially, rising mogul Louis B. Mayer saw her work and hired her to make stills of his stars. During this era, and decades that followed, posed star photographs were almost as important a part of the Hollywood star apparatus as the films themselves. Movie magazines were devoured by the masses and stars, carefully arranged, dressed, made-up and retouched, were often introduced to audiences by means of these publications, or by movie theater window displays.

Louise helped to develop the stylistic playbook of what we now call the era of Hollywood glamour.

Here are some of her best shots:

Lillian Gish

Bessie Love

Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford posed as Hamlet

Norma Shearer

Garbo

John Gilbert

Loretta Young

Buster Keaton (and Lon Chaney)