Bad
Girl Crush - Nina Leen
This
week’s #badgirlcrush is the iconic and prolific fashion photographer Nina Leen.
Nina was born in Russia, and was a woman
of mystery, as she never disclosed her actual date of birth, but it’s estimated
to be between 1909 and 1914!
Her artistic side blossomed when she started
studying painting and taking photos in Berlin, before migrating to the USA in
1939.
With her trusty Rolleiflex camera by her side Nina began photographing all matter of subjects from the viewpoint of an observer, and a photo of tortoises at the Bronx zoo became the first of many publications for LIFE magazine in April 1940.
Although Nina never became an official staff member of LIFE magazine, she was a contract photographer until the magazine closed in 1972, and was one of the first ever female photographers, shooting over 50 front covers, a total Bad Girl!
Leen described herself as a
photojournalist ; “If I were only a
photographer, I would have a selection of single pictures, and they would be
good pictures but not a story. Of course, to tell a story in pictures, the
story should have something in it that is worth telling – to milk a cow without
milk makes no sense.”
When LIFE closed it’s doors she went onto produce books and published a total of fifteen with the focus of these collections being on animals as it was well documented that she was more fond of animals than most humans!
One of her most successful books was about
a dog she adopted called Lucky, who got his name after being found abandoned in
Texas by a colleague and was then shipped to the LIFE offices. When the two met
he became her new sidekick and she documented his post rescue adventures, which
even included a short film!
The other man in her life was her husband Serge
Balkin, who was also a fashion photographer and his work often graced the pages
of Vogue.
Nina passed away in 1995 on New Year’s Day
in New York and was rumoured to be around 80 years old, she remains an iconic
photographer to this day, lets take a look at some of those shots she captured
that define the decades of the 40’s and 50’s…
Girls and their curls!
Beach beauties are always an inspiration, we love the shorts and stripes combo!
You’ve seen what Nina produced behind the
camera, now it’s your turn to show us your Bad Girl style in front of one! Tag your photo in our designs with
#tobgstyle and #theoriginalbadgirl for a chance to be featured on our
Instagram! X
Patsy - Jungle Pat
(Columnist for The Original Bad Girl Blog)
