• • Born in Maine on 17 July 1883, this budding shutterbug was raised in Newport News, Virginia where he received his first camera at age 15 in 1898. It was a $1 box Brownie. And he had the most extraordinary beginner's luck.
• • His first news photo was a picture of the battleship Maine as she sailed for Havana in 1898. When the ship sank during this voyage, his photo - - the most current shot taken - - was published around the world, making the teenager's name famous overnight.
• • When Abbe moved to Manhattan he set up a studio in the Hotel des Artistes. However, he preferred to take pictures on location. Especially when he made studies of actors and actresses, he preferred to take their picture at the theatre when they were in costume. Abbe photographed all the well-known vaudevillians and leading lights of Broadway.
• • In 1916, he did a series on Mae West in some of her costumes at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, where she was doing an act with her sister Beverly. Though he took other photos of Mae West, this seems to be the first portrait he snapped.
• • During November, James Abbe is being remembered. After a long, productive career, he died in San Francisco, California on 13 November 1973.
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • photographed by James Abbe • • 1916 • •
NYC
Mae West.
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