Frederick William McDarrah (November 5, 1926 – November 6, 2007) was an American staff

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' and an author. He is best known for documenting the cultural phenomenon known as the

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

from its inception in the 1950s. In his book ''The Artist's World in Pictures'', co-authored with Thomas B. Hess, McDarrah documented the New York art world, the New York School and the world of

Abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

during the late 1950s.

Biography

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

of Catholic and Protestant descent, he said his father "did nothing, never worked, a manic depressive who used to sit by the window and just stare out. We used to live on Home Relief. My brother David and I went begging for food." He bought his first camera at the 1939 World's Fair for 39 cents, but he did not start taking photographs as a vocation until he was a paratrooper in occupied Japan following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was one of the first to photograph

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. He photographed people at the time of the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous riots and demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of ...

; those pictures were among those gathered in the book ''Gay Pride'' (1994), one of over a dozen books including his photographs.

Exhibitions

*2015. "Fred W. McDarrah: The Artists's World". Solo at Steven Kasher Gallery.

*2018. "Fred W. McDarrah: New York Scenes." Solo at Steven Kasher Gallery.

Family

In 1960, he married Gloria Schoffel. They had two sons,

Timothy Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek language, Greek name (Timotheus (disambiguation), Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries ...

and Patrick.

Death

He died in his sleep at his home in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

a few hours after his 81st birthday.

Books by McDarrah

*McDarrah, Fred W. ''The Beat Scene.'' Corinth Books, 1960 *McDarrah, Fred W., and Gloria S. McDarrah. ''The Artist's World in Pictures.'' New York: Dutton, 1961 *McDarrah, Fred W., and McDarrah, Timothy S. '' Museums In New York. '' New York: A Frommer Book, 1983 *McDarrah, Fred W., and Patrick J. McDarrah. ''The Greenwich Village Guide: Sixteen Historic Walks, Includes Soho, Tribeca, and the East Village: Antique Shops, Bookstores, Theatres, Clubs, Restaurants, Art Galleries and More.'' Chicago, IL: Chicago Review, 1992 *McDarrah, Fred W., Timothy S. McDarrah, and Robert Taylor. ''Gay Pride: Photographs from Stonewall to Today.'' Chicago, IL: Cappella, 1994 *McDarrah, Fred W., and Gloria S. McDarrah. ''Beat Generation: Glory Days in Greenwich Village.'' New York: Schirmer, 1996 *MacDarrah, Fred W., and Timothy S. MacDarrah. ''Kerouac and Friends: A Beat Generation Album.'' New York: Thunder's Mouth, 2002 *McDarrah, Fred W., Gloria S. McDarrah, and Timothy S. McDarrah. ''Anarchy, Protest & Rebellion: And the Counterculture That Changed America.'' New York: Thunder's Mouth, 2003 *McDarrah, Fred W. ''Artists and Writers of the 60s and 70s: An Exhibition of Vintage Prints at Steven Kasher Gallery, November 9, 2006 – January 6, 2007.'' New York, NY: Steven Kasher Gallery, 2006

Book On McDarrah

*Wilentz, Sean ''Fred W. McDarrah: New York Scenes'', Abrams Books, 2018

References

External links

Fred W. McDarrah
at

artnet Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City. It is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly-traded company based in Berlin that is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Ex ...

.com
Fred W. McDarrah
at

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

1926 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American photographers Writers from Brooklyn People from Greenwich Village The Village Voice people {{US-photographer-stub