Toni Frissell

Toni Frissell was an American photographer known for fashion, portraits, and powerful documentary work. Born in New York in 1907, she made her name shooting fashion for major magazines, taking models outdoors into natural light and real settings rather than the studio. Her free, active images helped change the look of fashion photography.

During the Second World War she volunteered her camera, photographing nurses, soldiers, and children affected by the fighting, as well as the pioneering Black airmen known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Her famous underwater image of a floating woman in a white dress has a dreamlike beauty. Frissell's wide-ranging career made her a notable figure in twentieth century photography.