Background

Shirley Carter Burden was born on December 9, 1908, in New York City, the youngest son of William Armistead Moale Burden and Florence Vanderbilt (née Twombly) Burden. He was the brother of Ambassador William Armistead Moale Burden II. His maternal grandparents were Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly (1854–1952) and Hamilton McKown Twombly (1849-1910), and he was a great-great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Education

Shirley Burden was at the Browning School in New York City until 1926, but did not go on to college or university education.

Career

Beginning in 1924, Shirley Burden assisted at Pathé News. In 1926, he and his cousin filmed an Ontario Indian tribe for their The Silent Enemy, and from 1927 held a minor position at Paramount Studios. A 1929 meeting with Edward Steichen inspired his interest in photography and later gained his mentorship. Shirley Burden sought better motion picture prospects in California and Hollywoodand from 1929 to 1934 used his contact Merian C. Cooper to gain associate producer work, most significantly at RKO on Academy Award nominated "She".

In 1942 Shirley Burden formed his own commercial motion picture company which he named Tradefilms, Incorporated. With Tradefilms, Burden established a lucrative business producing motion picture training films, which were in high demand during the war years by the United States Navy, the United States Office of Education, and Lockheed Aircraft. This business was unsustainable postwar and Burden and Tradefilms partner Todd Walker opened a photography studio in Beverly Hills, California, in 1946, producing advertising and architectural photography for magazines Architectural Forum, House and Garden, Arts and Architecture.

From 1978 to 1981 Shirley Burden assisted his friend, Don Wier, in teaching a course entitled "Point of View" at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Many Faces of Mary

    (Gathers and describes photographs of various statues from...)

  • I Wonder Why

    (In 1963, Shirley Carter Burden photographed "I Wonder Why...)

    1963
  • God is my life: The story of Our Lady of Gethsemani

    (This book ''God Is My Life'' is about a Trappist monaster...)

    1960
  • Behold Thy Mother

    (First Edition)

    1965
  • Presence: Photographs With Observations 1981
  • The Vanderbilts in My Life: A Personal Memoir 1981
  • Chairs 1985

• photography

  • photography

    1962

  • Ellis Island

    1956

• Other Work

  • 1956

Religion

It was 1950 that Burden converted to Catholicism, a decision which influenced much of the ideology behind his later photographic work.

Membership

After his second marriage, Burden, while not abandoning his photographic projects, became profoundly involved with several important photography and fine art committees and programs throughout the United States. In 1974 Shirley Burden joined the board of trustees of the Friends of Photography based in Carmel, California. In 1975 he was appointed the chairman of the Photography Committee at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and was also a trustee. In 1976 Shirley Burden became a member of the advisory panel of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California. From 1978 to 1981 he assisted his friend, Don Wier, in teaching a course entitled "Point of View" at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California.

• In 1975 he was appointed the chairman of the Photography Committee at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and was also a trustee.

  Photography Committee at the Museum of Modern Art , New York

  1975

• In 1976 he became a member of the advisory panel of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California.

  Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California , California

  1976

• In 1974 he joined the board of trustees of the Friends of Photography based in Carmel, California.

  Friends of Photography , Carmel

  1974

Interests

• photography, fine arts

Connections

In 1934, Shirley Burden married Flobelle Fairbanks, an actress who was also the niece of actor Douglas Fairbanks. Two years later their first child was born, a daughter named Margaret Florencel; their first son was born in 1941 and was named Shirley Carter Burden, Jr. After the death of his first wife Flobelle on January 5, 1969, Burden married Julietta Valverde Lyon in 1971.

Spouse:

Julietta Valverde Lyon

Spouse:

Flobelle Fairbanks

Flobelle Fairbanks was born in 1907. She married Shirley Carter Burden in 1934. She died in 1969.

Brother:

William Armistead Moale Burden

Daughter:

Florence Margaret Healy-French

Florence Margaret Healy-French married Daniel Childs in 1955. From 1955, her married name became Childs.

Son:

Shirley Carter Burden Jr.

Friend:

Minor White

Friend:

Edward Steichen

Friend:

Dorothea Lange

Friend:

Thomas Merton

Friend:

Don Wier