page_title: Sonya Noskowiak
section_title: Photography
hierarchical_section_title: Sonya Noskowiak / Photography
caption_attribution_description: English: Photographed is author John Steinbeck
context_page_description: Sonya Noskowiak was a 20th-century German-American photographer and member of the famous San Francisco photography collective Group f/64 that included Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. She is considered to be a central figure in one of the great art movements of the century. Throughout her career, Noskowiak photographed quite a few subjects those including landscapes, still lives and portraits. Her most well-known, and unacknowledged, portraits are of the author, John Steinbeck. In 1936, Noskowiak was awarded a prize at the annual exhibition of the San Francisco Society of Women Artist. She was also represented in the San Francisco Museum of Art’s 1939 “Scenes from San Francisco” exhibit. Ten years before her death, Noskowiak's work was included in a WPA exhibition at the Oakland Museum, in Oakland, California.
context_section_description: She primarily focused on landscapes and portraits, specifically between the 1930s and 1940s. Noskowiak embraced straight photography and used as a tool to give newer meaning to her photographs. Her technique emphasizing the forms, patterns, and textures of her subjects, rather than just documenting it.
  Her earliest works reflect the photographers of her period and their thoughts on pictorialism. In her earliest works, such as City Rooftops, Mountains in Distance (the 1930s),  there's a graphicness to how she abstracted the piece. There's the dark, strong industrial structure that contrasts against the light sky. There are almost no logs seen on the buildings, and if they are they are blurred beyond readability.  This is an example of the 'New Objectivity' movement, which focused on a sharp, documentary approach to photography.
  Noskowiak often composed her photographs to intersect her subjects, which gave a more dynamic feel to her photographs. Good examples of these are in her works Kelp (1930) and Calla Lily (1932). The composition crops the visual boundaries of the kelp plant and flower and draws the viewer's eyes to the texture of the plants.  Kelp is so abstracted that if not for the title it would be unrecognizable. While in Calla Lily, her use of chiaroscuro gives a luminous almost floating feeling to the photograph. 
  
  Her photograph, Agave (1933), is an intimate viewing of the cactus plant. Another example of her compositions separating the object from what is shown and emphasis on the beautiful pattern on the plant. 
   
  
  Noskowiak utilized the same technique of straight photography in her pictorial portraits and commercial works. The same intimacy shown in Agave can be seen in portrait works such as John Steinbeck (1935) and Barbara (1941). 
  In both, she creates an intimate atmosphere, one in which the viewer feels as though they are there interacting with the subjects. 
  Even in her more commercial works, Noskowiak's style and technique still remained. In her untitled 1930s photograph, you have a model with a broad-brimmed hat that conceals her face. The composition of the piece relieves viewers from thinking about the photograph as an advertisement. The cropping and position of the models give closeness, viewers get the feel of being in the moment with the model than an advertisement quality.
caption: Sonya Noskowiak, John Steinbeck, 1930
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