Ida Dora Wyman (March 7, 1926 โ July 13, 2019) was an American photographer best known for her documentary photography of New York street life.[1]
Early life
Wyman was born in Malden, Massachusetts on March 7, 1926.[1][2] She grew up in the Bronx, New York. Wyman began her photography career while she was in high school, by taking photos of her neighborhood.[3] Before becoming a photographer, Wyman had planned to be a nurse.[4]
Wyman can be heard as a contestant on the 15th November 1950 edition of You Bet Your Life.
Wyman was a member of New York City's Photo League.[6][7] During the 1940s and '50s, she shot over one hundred assignments for Life magazine.[2] Working from the west coast, she was often assigned to photograph movie stars on set, such as James Cagney in White Heat.[8]
By 1962 Wyman had given up professional photography, taking a job at Haskins Laboratories in New York. Manhattan. She returned to photography in 1968, as a pathology photographer in the department of medicine at Columbia University.[1] It was not until her 70s and 80s that she began to receive critical acclaim for her work.[1]
Her work is included in the permanent collection of the Jewish Museum, New York.[9]