Todd Webb

[The Circle] LaSalle Street, Harlem

1946

Todd Webb was an American photographer notable for documenting everyday life and architecture in cities such as New York City, Paris as well as from the American west. He was born on September 5, 1905, in Detroit. Webb was awarded two successive John Simon Guggenheim fellowships to photograph the pioneer trails that early American settlers followed to Oregon and California. While his contemporary, Robert Frank drove across the country during these years, he walked and photographed as he moved from East to West. Up until the 1980s, Webb photographed and produced a unique body of work, which has attained an important place in the annals of American photographic history. Frequently referred to as a historian with a camera, Webb's rich images document life all over the world. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is included in numerous museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. His life was like his photographs, at first, they seem very simple, without obvious tricks or manipulation, but upon closer examination, they are increasingly complex and marvelously subtle. Webb died on April 15, 2000, at the age of 94 in Auburn.