Career
His images are said to represent the best example of this movement. Ted Croner is best known for his haunting night images of New York taken in the 1940s and 1950s. He was one of several important photographers who belonged to the New York school.
Born in Baltimore in 1922 and raised in North Carolina, Croner developed an interest in photography while still in high school.
He honed his skills while serving as an aerial photographer in World World War II before settling in New York City in 1947. At the urging of fashion photographer Fernand Fonssagrives, he enrolled in Alexey Brodovitch’s class at the New School where he studied with such notable photographers as Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon and Lisette Model.
lieutenant was during this period that he produced many of his most memorable images including “Taxi, New York Night, 1947-1948”, which appears on the cover of Bob Dylan’s 2006 album, Modern Times. Another one of Croner"s photographs appears on the cover of "Penthouse", the second album from the New York City band Luna.
Ted Croner also had a successful career as a fashion and commercial photographer.
His work has been published in many magazines including Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. He also worked extensively with large corporations such as Coca-Cola and Chase Manhattan Bank. Croner"s first show was in 1948 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, organized by Edward Steichen, In and Out of Focus: A Survey of Today’s Photography.
This show was followed by Four Photographers: Lisette Model, Harry Callahan, Ted Croner, and Bill Brandt later the same year, also at the Museum of Modern Art. Jane Livingston"s book has a good summary of Ted Croner"s shows and exhibitions.