Carole Lee Kismaric

Background

Carole Kismaric was born on April 28, 1942, in Orange, New Jersey. She was the daughter of John Joseph and Alice Felicia Kismaric.

Education

Carole Kismaric studied psychology at the Pennsylvania State University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1964.

Career

Carole Kismaric was an innovative editor of photography books and magazines and a curator of photography exhibitions. After graduating, she decided to go into journalism after college. After working a few years as a reporter for United Press International and Reporter in Columbus, Ohio, and as a writer for magazine publisher Conde Nast, Carole joined the staff of Time-Life in 1969 as a picture researcher. She became an associate editor in 1973 and working on Time-Life's photography series.

When Carole Kismaric joined Aperture in 1976, the publisher was still creating photography books in the old style in which one photo was displayed per page with no accompanying captions and surrounded by a frame as if it were in a museum. She developed a more loosely structured, magazine-like format for the books she edited. Carole edited Aperture, the publisher's quarterly magazine, and became an editorial director until she left the company in 1985.

In addition to her work as an editor, Carole Kismaric was involved in several photography exhibitions in which her creative flair was also evident. For example, in one exhibition, photographs were accompanied by a recording of people talking about how the photos had influenced them. Carole was especially active with exhibitions in the 1990s and was co-curator of such traveling shows as Forced out in Time, Talking Pictures, and Fame after Photography.

In 1990, Carole Kismaric formed Lookout, a partnership with photography curator and writer, Marvin Heiferman, previously director of photography for Castelli Gallery. They created the cultural programming and publishing firm to package books and exhibitions for the popular audience.

Besides, Carole Kismaric was a writer. She wrote and edited such works as The Photography Catalogue and the photography books Forced Out: Refugees on the Move and Forced Out: The Agony of the Refugee in Our Time. Carole was also the co-author of several books for children, including The Boy Who Tried to Cheat Death, Cinderella, The Mysterious Case of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, and the author of The Art of the X-Files and Big Dogs, Little Dogs.

Achievements

• Carole Kismaric was widely known as the author and editor. While working as an editor at the Aperture, she transformed the design and appeal of books and, therefore, attracted a broad audience. Carole also was a co-founder of the Lookout, the cultural programming and publishing firm to package books and exhibitions for the popular audience. Besides, she was the organizer of several photography exhibitions, where she developed new ideas for the juxtaposition and installation of photographs that had little to do with the standards of the time.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Forced Out

    (A powerful weaving of words and photographs, Forced Out p...)

    1989
  • A Gift from Saint Nicholas

    (By the time Saint Nicholas gets to Cecile's house on Sain...)

    1988
  • Talking Pictures

    (Seventy writers, artists, musicians, politicians, and pro...)

    1994
  • The Rumor of Pavel and Paali

    (When cruel Pavel wins a wager against his kind twin broth...)

    1988
  • Growing Up with Dick and Jane: Learning and Living the American Dream

    (Growing Up with Dick and Jane reunites us with two old fr...)

    1996
  • The boy who tried to cheat death 1971
  • Cinderella 1993
  • The Mysterious Case of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys 1998
  • The Art of the X-Files 1998
  • My Day 1993
  • To the Rescue 1999
  • Love Is Blind 1997

Views

Carole Kismaric sought to demonstrate how books of artistically bold pictures could yield social and political meanings beyond the purview of art and thus appeal to broad audiences.

Connections

Carole Kismaric married Charles Mikolaycak on October 1, 1970.

Father:

John Joseph Kismaric

Mother:

Alice Felicia Kismaric

Alice Felicia Kismaric's maiden name was Gruskos.

husband:

Charles Vincent Mikolaycak

Charles Mikolaycak was an American children's book illustrator.

Sister:

Susan Kismaric

Susan Kismaric is an American photography curator at the Museum of Modern Art.

colleague:

Marvin Heiferman

Marvin Heiferman is an American writer and curator. He organizes projects about photography and visual culture for institutions that include the Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian Institution, International Center of Photography, Whitney Museum of American Art, Carnegie Museum of Art, and the New Museum.