Amazing Women Photographer of the past!

I love being a photographer. I can think of nothing better than the enjoyment of beauty and the expression of love and happiness. I love to show the world as it is. For all its beauty and its turmoil. We have been so blessed in our lives to live on such an amazing planet. I am seriously falling in love with some of the most famous women photographers. The women who laid a path for women photographers to come. I would love to share the information and photographs that I have found from these amazing and inspiring women.

Nina Leen
(1914 - 1995)
An amazing portrait and fashion photographer.
“Some pictures look posed that are not posed”

Nina Leen was one of the first women photographers for LIFE. She was born in Russia but grew up in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. She always wanted to be a photographer and her first camera, bought in Europe while she was still an amateur, was a Rolleiflex that she continued to use throughout her assignments for LIFE. She is best known for her many pictures of animals. Nina was married for a few years to Serge Balkin, who was a fashion photographer.

During her early years on the magazine, Nina Leen did a number of memorable stories about teenagers. As an expert observer of the manners and mores of her new country, her reactions to American youth were particularly acute. She photographed many fashion stories for LIFE and was a perceptive interpreter of “way of current life” stories.