Benn Mitchell

Benn Mitchell (1926) is an American photographer whose evocative silver‑gelatin images capture the spirit and grit of postwar New York City. Beginning in the mid‑1940s, Mitchell turned his lens toward the everyday—Third Avenue El trains slicing through the skyline, ice skaters on Central Park ponds, and neighborhood cafeterias humming with life. His keen eye for composition and his empathy for urban communities shine through in each frame.

Over a career that spans more than seven decades, his work has been featured in solo exhibitions such as Works from the 1940’s & 50’s (2021) and Benn Mitchell Photographs (2023) at the Boca Raton Museum of Art .

Mitchell’s prints continue to appear in museum collections and auction houses worldwide, where they are prized for their clarity, historical resonance, and the quiet humanity they reveal in a rapidly changing city. His images remain a vital record of New York’s mid‑century neighborhoods, inviting viewers to discover beauty in the ordinary.