Background
Clarence John Laughlin was born on August 14, 1905, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States, into a middle-class family in 1905 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States.
Clarence John Laughlin was born on August 14, 1905, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States, into a middle-class family in 1905 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States.
Laughlin moved with his family to New Orleans in 1910 and had to leave school to support his family after his father's death in 1918.
Laughlin began photography until 1934, when he started freelancing, primarily in the field of architecture. In 1940 Laughlin was a civil service photographer for the U.S. Corps of Engineers in Louisiana. In a year he worked in fashion for Vogue. In 1942 he was with the Photography Department of the National Archives in Washington, District of Columbia, United States. In 1968 Laughlin was named an associate of research at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.
Clarence was influenced by Baudelaire and the French Symbolists.