Collection is open for research. Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives.
Donated to the Archives Center in 2016 by Bruce and Silke Silverstein.
Collection arranged into one series.
Frank Paulin, born in Pittsburgh in 1926, spent his early life in New York City and Chicago. He apprenticed at a photography studio in Chicago at the age of 16. In 1944 at 18, he went into the Army, serving with the Signal Corps in Europe, where he honed his photographic skills by shooting images of devastated cities. After the war he returned to Chicago and studied first at the Chicago Art Institute, then the Institute of Design with the famed artist and theorist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and photographer Harry Callahan. In 1953 he returned to New York to work as a fashion illustrator, and studied with Alexey Brodovitch at the New School. During this period he began walking the streets at night and developed his interest in street and documentary photography. His work has been exhibited widely, beginning with the pioneering New York gallery, Limelight, in 1957.
Frank Paulin Photoprints, 1950s-1994 (bulk 1950-1960), Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Bruce and Silke Silverstein.
Collection is unprocessed.
Photoprints of city scenes, mostly taken during the 1950s, but including a few later images. Most of the images were made in New York City, Chicago, and New Orleans. One photograph was taken in Seville, Spain. The photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson appears in two of the photographs, photographing the Saint Patrick's Day parade; evangelist Billy Graham in another.
"All Frank Paulin photographs copyright 2007Silverstein. Frank Paulin and the Frank Paulin Archive. All rights reserved by: Silverstein Photography / Silverstein Publishing."
Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
1. Belmont Racetracks
2. Carousel, New Orleans
3. Chrysler, New York
5. Henri Cartier-Bresson at St. Patrick's Day Parade
6. Henri Cartier-Bresson (Saint Patrick's Day Parade)
7. I like Ike and Dick
9. Untitled (Woman on Bench)
10. Saks Fifth Avenue Reflection
12. Untitled (Billy Graham Rally)
13. Woman Through Fish Tank