Biographical / Historical

The Black Star Agency was founded in 1935 by German Jewish refugees Kurt Safranski, Ernest Mayer and Kurt Kornfeld, who fled Berlin during the Nazi regime. They were innovators in Germany's picture press and publishing world, and brought with them a wealth of knowledge about photography and photojournalism. Their New York-based agency commissioned and brokered the use of photographs that documented important events, people of note, and human interest stories. One of their first major clients was Henry Luce's Life magazine, founded in 1936. In 1964, the company was sold to Howard Chapnick, a photographer who had joined the agency after his service in WWII. He led the agency for the next 25 years.

Ken Regan (d. 2012) worked for over five decades documenting pop culture, sports, foreign conflicts, and other current events. Credited with over 200 magazine covers, Regan was most well-known for a discretion and professionalism which earned him intimate shooting access to famous politicians, musicians, and other celebrities. Regan also covered major events for magazines such as Time, Sports Illustrated, Life, and Newsweek. In the 1970s he founded Camera 5, an agency of 15 photographers who covered wars, riots and demonstrations, and other national and international hard news and human interest stories.

André de Dienes (1913-1985) was a Hungarian American fashion photographer best known for his early portraits of the actress Marilyn Monroe.