Coburn, Alvin Langdon

Coburn, Alvin Langdon kōˈbûrn [key], 1882–1936, American photographer, b. Boston. Coburn began making photographs at eight and was one of the younger members of Alfred Stieglitz's Photo-Secession. Like others in the group, he was inspired to photograph the streets, parks, and buildings of New York City. He later became renowned for his thoughtful, perceptive portraits of European literary and artistic celebrities. Living and working in England most of his life, he produced superb photogravures of urban and marine scenes and landscapes that were widely published and exhibited. He experimented with a cubist aesthetic in his vortographs.

See his autobiography (1966) and study by M. Weaver (1986).

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