Alvin Langdon Coburn

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Blue plaque for Alvin Langdon Coburn

Alvin Langdon Coburn (born June 11, 1882 in Boston , USA ; † November 23, 1966 , Rhos-on-Sea ( Colwyn Bay ) North Wales , Great Britain ) was an American-British photographer who is considered a key figure of Pictorialism .

Live and act

Alvin Langdon Coburn created an extensive body of work in a relatively short period of time from the beginning of the 20th century to the early 1920s, which made an important contribution to the development of artistic photography.

He was born into a well-off family. He was given his first camera as a gift at the age of eight in 1890 and was introduced to photography by his cousin Fred Holland Day . He exhibited his first photograph in 1898. In 1902 he became a member of the New York Photo Secession initiated by Alfred Stieglitz . Photographs of Coburn first appeared in Stieglitz's Camera Work magazine in 1904. The American professional photographer Gertrude Käsebier and the British artists' association Brotherhood of the Linked Ring also influenced his work. City and landscape photographs were taken during his many travels. He mainly photographed public figures, especially writers (including a series of portraits by George Bernard Shaw ).

In 1912 he moved to England, where he joined the Vortizisten , an avant-garde movement in the visual arts in England , evidently under the influence of Ezra Pound , who was a friend of his . During this phase Alvin Langdon Coburn created abstract photographs , which he called "vortographs". Technically, the process of photo engraving remained decisive for him , a technique that was characteristic of the current of pictorialism in photography.

In the 1960s, AL Coburn transferred his inventory of around 20,000 photographs and negatives to George Eastman House , New York .

Books (selection)

  • 1909 London (introduction by GK Chesterton )
  • 1910 New York (introduction by HG Wells )
  • 1913 Men of Mark
  • 1925 Moor Park
  • 1922 More Men of Mark

Literature (selection)

  • Alvin Langdon Coburn: A Portfolio of Sixteen Photographs, 1962
  • Alvin Langdon Coburn, 1882-1966, P. Blatchford, London, 1978
  • Alvin Langdon Coburn, photographs 1900 - 1924, Zurich, 1999

Web links

Commons : Alvin Langdon Coburn  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Coburn, Alvin Langdon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American-British photographer
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 1966
Place of death Rhos-on-Sea , Colwyn Bay, Wales