{"id":808349,"date":"2026-05-19T21:31:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/808349\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T21:31:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:31:23","slug":"todd-webb-a-photographer-who-once-walked-from-new-york-to-san-francisco-has-archive-preserved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/808349\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd Webb, a Photographer Who Once Walked From New York to San Francisco, Has Archive Preserved"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>      <img data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TWX1-800x625.jpg\" alt=\"Black-and-white photo of people in coats and hats walking past MARTINS Bar and Restaurant, which advertises television. Above is a sign for a billiard parlor. A vintage car is parked on the street.\" width=\"800\" height=\"625\" class=\"size-large wp-image-855227\"  \/>Todd Webb<br \/>The Sixth Avenue (Sixth Avenue Between 43rd and 44th Streets), New York, New York, 1948. <\/p>\n<p>The MUUS Collection has acquired the Todd Webb archive, an American photographer whose images of postwar city life in New York City and Paris serve as visual time capsules to bygone eras. MUUS preserves, researches, and reveals works from the archives in its care. <\/p>\n<p>  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1280px-Todd_Webb_in_Boat-765x800.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a rain hat and poncho sits in a small boat on a river, smiling. The water is choppy, and a bridge with arched supports is visible in the background on a cloudy day.\" width=\"765\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-855225\"  \/>Photographer Todd Webb on a boat. | <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Todd_Webb#\/media\/File:Todd_Webb_in_Boat.jpg\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\">Wikipedia<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Born in Detroit in 1905, Webb traveled the world and in the 1950s was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships, which allowed him to photograph the pioneer trails of early American settlers as he walked from New York City to San Francisco. Webb also photographed in the United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea, France, and several countries in Africa. <\/p>\n<p>Webb didn\u2019t pick up photography until after the Crash of 1929, in which he reportedly lost all his earnings. But according to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Todd_Webb\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\">his Wikipedia page<\/a>, in 1940 he completed a 10-day workshop with Ansel Adams, before joining the United States Navy as a photographer. <\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TWX16-637x800.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing an apron and hat stands behind a wooden pushcart filled with produce, possibly olives, on a city street. He is positioned in front of a weathered stone building with chalk drawings on the wall.\" width=\"637\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-855234\"  \/>Todd Webb<br \/>The Cherry Man, Rue Mouffetard, Paris, 1950. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TWX12-800x629.jpg\" alt=\"Three people stand with their backs to the camera, wearing mid-20th century attire. Two women and one man are engaged in conversation outdoors, near a fenced area and modern buildings.\" width=\"800\" height=\"629\" class=\"size-large wp-image-855232\"  \/>Todd Webb<br \/>Coney Island, 1946.<br \/>\n <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TWX8-634x800.jpg\" alt=\"A person with short, curly light hair rests their chin on their hand, looking thoughtfully to the side. They wear a striped sweater. The background is dark with geometric shapes visible.\" width=\"634\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-855231\"  \/>Todd Webb<br \/>Lisette Model, New York, 1946. <\/p>\n<p>After the war, he moved to New York City and moved in the most illustrious art and photography circles of the mid-20th century, developing close relationships with Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O\u2019Keeffe, Walker Evans, and Beaumont Newhall.<\/p>\n<p>Up until the 1980s, Webb actively photographed, and his portraiture of artists and friends \u2014 including Berenice Abbott, Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, and Lisette Model \u2014 remains an indelible record of his time.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TWX15-557x800.jpg\" alt=\"An elderly man with glasses and a mustache sits on a couch in front of a framed painting of birds. The image is in black and white, creating a contemplative and artistic atmosphere.\" width=\"557\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-855233\"  \/>Todd Webb<br \/>Alfred Stieglitz, New York, 1946. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TWX6-627x800.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with dark hair wearing a textured, chunky knit sweater and patterned scarf sits in a wicker chair, looking directly at the camera with a serious expression in a softly lit room.\" width=\"627\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-855230\"  \/>Todd Webb<br \/>Berenice Abbott, New York, 1946. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TWX4-795x800.jpg\" alt=\"An older woman with gray hair sits in a cushioned chair, resting her chin on her hand and gazing thoughtfully. She wears a light-colored buttoned shirt. Animal bones are visible on a table behind her.\" width=\"795\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-855229\"  \/>Todd Webb<br \/>O\u2019Keeffe on the Portal, Ghost Ranch, 1963. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TWX3-796x800.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a long white dress stands on sandy ground with visible footprints, holding a camera, and looking back; mountains and cloudy skies appear in the background.\" width=\"796\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-855228\"  \/>Todd Webb<br \/>Photographing near Abiquiu, New Mexico, 1959.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTodd Webb was a key figure in New York\u2019s post-Second World War photography scene,\u201d says Sophie Wright, Executive Director of MUUS Collection. \u201cFriends with Alfred Stieglitz and his wife <a href=\"https:\/\/petapixel.com\/2021\/12\/20\/series-of-rare-and-largely-unseen-photos-by-georgia-okeeffe\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Georgia O\u2019Keeffe<\/a> (to whom he taught photography), he had his first solo exhibition at Museum of the City of New York in 1946. From an earlier generation than our existing holdings, Webb\u2019s archive deepens the story of American 20th-century photography in the MUUS Collection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Webb\u2019s archive comprises approximately 15,000 prints and 50,000 negatives, among other ephemera, including his extensive journal, which offers a rich record of the photography community in postwar New York. The archive will sit alongside the work of other luminary photographers within MUUS Collection, including Rosalind Fox Solomon, Larry Fink, and Deborah Turbeville.<\/p>\n<p>The MUUS Collection says it will build on the work of the Todd Webb archive to expand awareness of his photography through exhibitions and publications, and will further digitize the archive to make it accessible through its online platform, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muuseum.com\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\">Muuseum<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Image credits:<\/strong> Todd Webb\/Courtesy of the MUUS Collection<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Todd WebbThe Sixth Avenue (Sixth Avenue Between 43rd and 44th Streets), New York, New York, 1948. The MUUS&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":808350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[328659,230418,88365,648,1032,180183,1033,171,328660,328661,5226,296815,102870,7084,328662,67,132,68,328663],"class_list":["post-808349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-alfredstieglitz","tag-anseladams","tag-archive","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-bereniceabbott","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-georgiaokeeffe","tag-muuscollection","tag-newyork","tag-photoarchive","tag-postwar","tag-preservation","tag-toddwebb","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-walkerevans"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116603381948549621","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}