Paul Outerbridge

American photographer Paul Outerbridge created shimmering “artificial paradises." From Cubist still life images to nudes, his sensitivity to light and shadow and pioneering use of color transformed everyday scenarios into near-abstract compositions. This unique aesthetic helped him seductively champion the expressionistic, as much as commercial, potential of color photography.

Paul Outerbridge’s provocative nudes and pioneering color

This concise monograph introduces Outerbridge’s unique aesthetic and its commercial and artistic trajectory, from his professional peak as New York’s highest-paid commercial photographer through to his retreat to Hollywood in the 1940s after a scandal over his erotic photography. With key examples from his oeuvre, the book explores Outerbridge’s innovative style through Cubist still life images, magazine photographs, and his controversial nudes, as well as his interaction with other avant-garde photographers, such as Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, and Man Ray. Along the way, we recognize Outerbridge’s particular ability to transform everyday objects into a quasi-abstract composition and his pioneering role in championing the expressionistic, as much as commercial, potential of color photographs.