The Photography of George Daniell

Born in May of 1911 in Yonkers, New York, George Daniell was an American photographer and a painter. His experience in the dramatic landscape of his childhood was the genesis that led to his passion for black and white photography’s cinematic effects. Taking a keen interest in a variety of subjects throughout his life, Danielle shot photos of dock workers in New Brunswick, crabbers on the Hudson, swimmers at Glen Island Beach and ballet dancers on Fire Island, all of which to him presented a fierce and tender celebration of the angular male figure.

George Daniell began his artistic career with a folding Kodak camera and a drawing class at the Grand Central Art School in New York City. He trained as a painter at Yale University, where he graduated in 1934 earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Painting and Photography. After returning to Yonkers, Daniell began photographing fishermen and bathers along the banks of the Hudson River, traveling further to Glen Island, Jones Beach, and Fire Island on subsequent excursions. Moving to New York City and attending courses at the Art Students League, he supported himself as a freelance photographer for publications such as “Time” and “Life” magazines.

In the summer of 1937, Daniell traveled north to Maine, first visiting the art colony at Ogunquit and then continuing up the coast to Monhegan Island. Developing his eye for composition and tonal values, he shot many images of Monhegan’s distinctive houses, rugged terrain, and working fishermen. The publication of many of these Monhegan  images in both “Time” and “Life” earned Daniell a reputation as an artist with a keen sense for recognizing the human moments within everyday life. He followed this project in the following year with an internationally acclaimed photo essay about the lives of herring fishermen living on Grand Manan Island, off the coast of New Brunswick.

In 1940 in New York, George Daniell continued his studies of painting at Bronx’s American People’s School, after which he served from 1942 to 1944 in the US Army during World War II.  After his discharge he returned to New York City, purchased a house on Fire Island, and continued his freelance photography career. Soon after resuming his work, Daniell met and fell in love with realist-expressionist painter and gallery owner Stephen Dorland. The couple  moved in 1960 to Trenton, Maine, near Acadia National Park, to paint and to start a country life together; over the next forty years, they would travel and paint together.

George Daniell’s association with renowned photographer and owner of the famous “291” Gallery,  Alfred Stieglitz, would lead to his most known series of work, the celebrity portraits. Meeting Georgia O’Keeffe at the gallery would result in two famous intimate photo shoots, one in 1948 at Daniell’s Fire Island house and one in 1952 at O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, which formed a lasting friendship between the two. Some of the famous subjects included in this celebrity series were landscape painter and friend John Marin, photographer Berenice Abbott, writer Tennessee Williams, and actors Robert De Niro and Greta Garbo. 

Over the course of his career, George Daniell spent a considerable amount of time traveling abroad, completing two around the world excursions. Between 1950 and 1954, he photographed many street scenes and images of the local people in Rome and Florence. Returning to Italy for two months in 1955, Daniell shot a series of images depicting  the streets and countryside of devastated postwar Italy; he also shot a series of portraits on the movie sets of Rome’s Cinecittà Studios. Marked by a distinct sense of sensuality and interest in his subjects, these two series, which Daniell considered his favorite work, combined his democratic vision and his recognition of the celebrity.

Affected by Stephen Dorland’s death in October of 1983 and suffering from depression, George Daniell was hospitalized and shortly after suffered a stroke which limited his mobility. Drawn to the dark and deep tones of the North Atlantic Coast, which coalesce in his early paintings, Daniell moved to Bar Harbor, Maine where he returned to painting. He continued working as a photographer and painter until his death on September 14, 2002 at the age of ninety-one.

The George Daniell Museum located in South Beach, Florida, houses a full collection of George Daniell’s work which covers the years from 1920 to 1991, and includes paintings, aquarelles, and his more personal photographs. The collection was recently unearthed by his estate and was presented through the cooperation of the German organization Zentraldepot, a security facility with conservators and restorers.

Top and Bottom Insert Images: Self Portraits of George Daniell, George Daniell Estate

Middle Insert Image:  George Daniell, “Steve Dorland in Acapulco”, 1944, Silver Gelatin Print, 34.5 x 23.1 cm, George Daniell Estate