Description

Burt Glinn’s 1949 project documented the ‘sightseers’ of New York City. He photographed everything from the downtown Vaudeville haunt, Sammy’s Bowery Follies, to Metropolitan Museum goers to the Broadway Amusement arcade. Here, a striper entertains patrons at Club Samoa on 52nd Street.

I think that what you’ve got to do is discover the essential truth of the situation, and have a point of view about it.

Burt Glinn
© Burt Glinn | Magnum Photos

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Burt Glinn served in the United States Army between 1943 and 1946, before studying literature at Harvard University, where he edited and photographed for the Harvard Crimson college newspaper. From 1949 to 1950, Glinn worked for LIFE magazine before becoming a freelancer.

He became an associate member of Magnum in 1951, along with Eve Arnold and Dennis Stock – the first Americans to join the young photo agency – and a full member in 1954.

Glinn made his mark with spectacular color series on the South Seas, Japan, Russia, Mexico and California. His reportages have appeared in Esquire, Geo, Travel and Leisure, Fortune, Life and Paris-Match. He has covered such monumental news events as the Sinai War, the US Marine invasion of Lebanon, and Fidel Castro’s takeover of Cuba.

© Burt Glinn | Magnum Photos

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