Exhibition: Ruth Orkin - A Photo Spirit at Photobastei
23.02.2026 | from Photobastei Zurich
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Image rights: ©Orkin/Engel Film and Photo Arc
23.02.2026, Everyday scenes, cityscapes, portraits. Ruth Orkin's photographs tell many stories: about the burgeoning America of the post-war period, about the lifestyle of a society in upswing, and about women claiming new roles beyond being housewives and mothers. Her humorous yet serious view of the world is evident in the details of her images, with her sense of movement, timing, and composition.
Ruth Orkin was one of the few professional female photographers of the 1940s and 1950s. Although her work was published in numerous newspapers and magazines such as the New York Times, Life, and Look, and her photographs were part of the legendary MOMA exhibition The Family of Man, she is still relatively unknown internationally. This starkly contrasts with many of her male contemporaries whose works are counted among the icons of street photography.
Ruth Orkin began taking photographs at the age of ten. In 1939, she created her first significant photographic work. At 17, she crossed the USA by bicycle with her camera, going from L.A. to New York for the World's Fair. She moved to New York in 1943.
Her career as a freelance photographer began in 1945 with the publication of a photo in Star Magazine. In 1951, Ruth Orkin was commissioned by Life magazine to travel to Israel. She documented the young country and its (newly arrived) residents as well as life on a kibbutz. This trip was one of her most important personal experiences.
One of her most famous images is the photograph 'American Girl in Italy'. For this photo, she portrayed her traveling companion Ninalee Craig (Jinx Allen), surrounded by men in Florence in 1951. Jinx became her friend and muse, inspiring an entire series that wittily illustrates what it was like to travel alone as a woman in the 1950s.
Throughout her life and work, Ruth Orkin experienced, reflected, and subverted society's expectations. Her photographs are modern, liberating, and empathetic comments on those times. Ruth Orkin would have turned 100 on September 3, 2021.
A collaboration between Photobastei and f3 - freiraum für fotografie in Berlin. The exhibition has been compiled and curated by Katharina Mouratidi.
Dates:
April 2 - May 24, 2026
Opening:
Thursday, April 2, 6:00 PM
Opening Hours:
Wednesday & Sunday: 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Thursday to Saturday: 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Admission:
12 / 8 CHF, benefactors and members free
Media Contact:
Romano Zerbini
Verein PhotoCreatives / Photobastei
Sihlquai 125
8005 Zurich
email: romano.zerbini@photobastei.ch
T +41 44 240 22 00
M +41 79 220 09 84
Editor's note: Image rights belong to the respective publisher. Image rights: ©Orkin/Engel Film and Photo Arc
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Photobastei Zurich
Photobastei: The House of Photography in the Heart of Zurich
The Photobastei combines museum-like exhibitions across two floors with professional photography expertise and a passion for photography. This squaring of the circle makes it a laboratory of mutual inspiration with a unique, open atmosphere - right in the city at Limmatplatz!
The bar is not primarily an invitation to consume but rather an invitation to engage. It is a meeting place for exchanges. Here, visitors can be inspired by over 1000 photo books, enjoy an evening of images, a lecture, many vernissages, or one of the numerous concerts. The small stage deliberately breaks with the monologue ex cathedra, inviting dialogue and sometimes creating uproars over the temporary interpretation sovereignty of our worldviews. Let yourself be inspired too!
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Source: Photobastei Zurich, Press release
Original article published on: Ausstellung: Ruth Orkin - A Photo Spirit in der Photobastei