Marie Cosindas

American photographer (22 September 1923, Boston, Massachusetts — 25 May 2017, Boston). Marie Cosindas was renowned for her pioneering use of Polaroid instant cameras and color film in the 1960s and early-70s. In 1966, she became the second artist in MoMA's history to have a solo exhibition of color photos (and only the fifth woman). Cosindas made numerous celebrity portraits, including Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Faye Dunaway, Robert Redford, Paul Newman (12), Ezra Pound and Tom Wolfe. She lectured at Boston University's Photographic Resource Center. Marie Cosindas studied with Paul Caponigro (2) and attended Ansel Adams workshops in 1961. She worked almost exclusively with black&white film, favoring "nature mortes" and architectural photography. Cosindas co-founded the "Association of Heliographers" in New York City with Caponigro, William Clift, Walter Chappell and other notable photographers, which became one of the most influential artistic cooperatives in the 1960s. She also collaborated with Minor White in 1963–64. In 1962, Ansel Adams recommended Edwin H. Land (1909—1991), founder of Polaroid Corporation, to invite Cosindas, among a handful of photographers, to test Polaroid's latest instant-processing color film. Since then, Marie Cosindas had almost entirely switched to color. She later commented that Polaroid technology profoundly impacted the artistic process, allowing her to concentrate on imagery without any hassle of color film processing and printing. In addition to portraits, Marie Cosindas continued making elaborate "still lifes," incorporating flowers, fruits and vegetables, textiles, jewelry, trinkets, and other carefully arranged objects.