Coney Island Bather, New York

Lisette Model is known for the frank humanism of her street photography, which emphasizes the beauty and peculiarities of everyday people and life. With the invention of small and quick-to-use cameras, she was able to take candid photographs of the people around her, mostly in New York City. This subject’s smile and charm give a sense of the happiness that comes from a day at the beach. Model’s most famous works are from the 1930s and 1940s, and later in her life, she became an important teacher of photography. Her most accomplished and well-known pupil was Diane Arbus, whose work you can see in this show as well.