Arnold Newman was an American photographer, who specialized in portraits of well-known people posed in settings associated with their work. This approach, known as “environmental portraiture,” greatly influenced portrait photography in the 20th century. He was born on March 3rd, 1918 in New York City.  He was raised and attended schools in Atlantic City, N.J. and Miami Beach, FL. He studied art under a scholarship at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL from 1936 to 1938. He died in New York City on June 6th, 2006. 

Mr. Newman argued that he was not interested in the details of his subject’s surroundings, but the symbols he could create with them. Uninspired by a plain back drop, he decided to tell a story with every portrait through their background/ environment.