Dorothy Bohm was born in Konigsberg, East Prussia and has lived in England since 1939. She was recently elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and is considered one of the most respected women of British Photography. I stumbled across her work accidentally, as is often the case when you discover something great. I was astounded to find that the book I had discovered was the first major retrospective exhibition of her work - in book format. Her career began in the 1940s with  A World Observed becoming the title of her soon to be famous collection of photographs.
Bohm has achieved quite simply, what many of us have tried and do strive to do through our Photography. Document an ever-changing and fast disappearing world. Bohm is said to be influenced by the art critic and theorist John Ruskin. He famously was convinced that the world he lived in was soon to disappear beneath the sea or be destroyed in a battle. In fact, he took Daguerreotypes which are now some of the earliest and most fascinating captures of Venice. You may remember his name from the History of Photography Article earlier this month.


So the same impulse to preserve a disappearing world seemed to have sparked Bohm's enthusiasm, and perhaps it wasn't as unfounded as Ruskin's, after all her photography career began in a place where War was ruining history every day. Bohm is a more modern day version of Margaret Cameron, and her Photography career is perhaps sparked in a similar way. Fleeing the Nazis, Bohm was sent to live in England and just before her train left the station her Father presented her with his Camera, a Leica, as a farewell gift.

Venturing into the realms of Street Photography, the depths of Still Life Photography and the emotion and expressiveness of Portrait Photography, Dorothy Bohm is perhaps an inspiration across a wide range of galleries, all of which we explore and celebrate here on deviantART.