Larry Colwell

Larry Colwell (1901–1972) was an American photographer whose career spanned advertising, fine art, and education. Born in Detroit, he began making photographs in 1938 and honed his craft at the Art Center School and the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles from 1939 to 1941. Upon graduating, he moved to New York City, where he established a successful studio specializing in advertising photography. His images—marked by crisp composition and a refined sense of light—regularly appeared in Time, Life, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, U.S. Camera, American Photography, Camera (Switzerland), and Aperture.

Colwell joined the Photo League and exhibited alongside its members in both group shows and publications, embracing the League’s commitment to socially engaged documentary work. In 1950 he relocated to Monterey, California, attracted by the region’s natural beauty and artistic community. There he formed friendships with Edward and Brett Weston, Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock, Imogen Cunningham, and Ruth Bernhard, exchanges that deepened his own visual vocabulary and appreciation for modernist approaches.

In addition to his commercial and documentary pursuits, Colwell was devoted to teaching. From 1964 to 1968 he led creative photography classes at the Jacksonville Art Museum, then served as an instructor at Silvermine College of Art in New Canaan, Connecticut, until 1971. His pedagogical style emphasized both technical mastery and personal expression, inspiring a generation of emerging photographers.

Today, Larry Colwell’s work is held in major collections worldwide, including the Center for Creative Photography (Tucson), the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Hallmark Photographic Collection (Kansas City), Princeton University, the University of New Mexico Art Museum, the George Eastman House, the New York Public Library, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and the National Gallery of Canada. His legacy endures in both his images and the many students he mentored.