Frank Paulin American, 1926-2016

A defining American street photographer of the postwar era, Frank Paulin (1926-2016) was uncommonly observant, capturing the dynamism of urban life and the human condition through his lens. Known for his abstract, editorial style, Paulin developed his instinctual and inventive eye studying under László Moholy-Nagy, Harry Callahan, and Arthur Siegel at Chicago’s German Bauhaus successor, the Institute of Design, and through legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch’s renowned Design Laboratory classes at the New School in New York City. A chronicler by nature, Paulin produced snapshots of the transitory complexities of mid-century urban spaces.

Paulin’s early life was foundational to his later career as a street photographer. Born in Pittsburgh, Paulin grew up in New York City and Chicago. In 1942, at the age of 16, he joined the Chicago-based Whittaker-Christiansen Studio as an art apprentice, studying photography and fashion illustration. In 1944, Paulin was drafted into the Army and served two years in the Signal Corps in Europe, where he discovered his documentary talents by photographing wartime devastation in German cities. 

Paulin worked as a freelance fashion illustrator in the early 1950s, and spent his free time roaming the streets of New York City, documenting, often through chance reflections, abstracted moments. Paulin’s first solo exhibition occurred in 1957 at New York’s Limelight Gallery, at that time the city’s only gallery for art photography. The New York Times and The Village Voiceissued admiring reviews, and from this exhibition Paulin’s significance only grew. His work has been exhibited at numerous institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Yale University Art Gallery. In his wake, Paulin leaves behind an astonishing body of color and black-and-white work that remains influential in American street photography.