Martha Holmes

I've been making an effort to learn more about female photographers from the eras of photography I really admire. While there is an infinite amount of work created by men in these periods as well, women making strides in any field as a professional is notable. Ultimately, it is for the work to speak for itself and I gravitate to certain photographs and styles of photography while ignorant of who stood behind the camera. The first image in this post was merely a perfect image I "liked" on Tumblr and it wasn't until I did further digging that I discovered the photographer was Martha Holmes. Homes worked for LIFE magazine for five years in the 1940s and continued freelancing for three more decades. Her work is diverse, ranging candid moments of unknown students or ball players in Central Park to portraits of celebrities and artists (her photograph of Jackson Polluck became a US stamp in 1999), but uniting them all is an appreciation for composition and light.