Title: Barber shop in town, Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, 1945.
Creator: Sol Libsohn (American, 1914-2001)
Description: D.M. Gray's barber shop, only one in Hatteras.
Date Original: 1945
Condition: Not examined out of frame but appears to be in excellent condition.
Location: The Village, Outer Banks, Cape Hatteras, N.C.
Dimensions: Visible image measures 7-1/4 x 7-1/4 inches; in wood frame measuring approx. 14-1/2 x 11-1/2 inches.
Notes: Probable re-print from the original negative from the Standard Oil Collection / University of Louisville Photographic Archives. Paper label on backing board with short history of D.M. Gray's barber shop.
Biography:
Sol Libsohn (February 5, 1914 - January 21, 2001) was a self-taught, documentary photographer.
Libsohn was born in New York and began photographing when a neighbor gave him a Kodak Brownie camera. After attending City College, he went to work for the Works Progress Administration as an artist's model for muralists, but he was soon drafted to record images of New Yorkers coping with hard times. In 1936 his experiences in the W.P.A. led him and others to form the Photo League with Sid Grossman. Libsohn was an important teacher at the League as well as a member and leader of numerous production groups.
During World War II Libsohn joined a team of photographers at Standard Oil Company of New Jersey to work on the documentary project, "There is a drop of oil in the life of everyone." The team, led by Roy Stryker, included, apart from Mr. Libsohn, Gordon Parks, Esther Bubley, Russell Lee, John Vachon and Todd Webb and was given amazingly free rein by its corporate sponsor. Libsohn also made "The Trucking Story," a series documenting truckers on their cross-country runs, as well as a series on life in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Beginning in the 1950s Libsohn's work appeared in numerous periodicals and was included in several important exhibitions including the Museum of Modern Art's The Family of Man. He taught photography at Princeton University. His work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from $400 USD to $2,750 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork. Since 2002 the record price for this artist at auction is $2,750 USD for Untitled, sold at Christie's New York in 2011. Sol Libsohn has been featured in articles for the ArtDaily and "The Art Newspaper. The most recent article is Photo Collector and Ophthalmologist William Tsiaras Gives 500 Works to Colby College Museum of Art in Maine written by Helen Stoilas for The Art Newspaper in January 2021.
Exhibitions:
The Family of Man, Jan 24–May 8, 1955, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Image of Freedom, Oct 29, 1941–Feb 1, 1942, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Collections:
Museum of Modern Art
International Center for Photography
Harvard Art Museums
New York Public Library