Ruth Harriet Louise
(1906 - 1944)
Ruth Harriet Louise was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1906. She was born Ruth Harriet Louise Sandrich but dropped her family name when she went into photography. Louise opened a commercial photography studio in New York City in 1923. She worked for MGM between
1925 and 1930 as head of their portrait gallery, transforming celebrity portraiture by creating an informal atmosphere and eliciting more individualized expressions from her sitters. As Greta Garbo's exclusive portraitist for a number of years, Louise was so highly thought of by Garbo that she was allowed not only to shoot the actress but also to choose her publicity shots despite this being the prerogative of the studio's publicity department. Ruth Harriet Louise was the only womanto hold that post full time at a major studio. In 1926, Louise was asked by William Randolph Hearst to photograph Marion Davies. She also photographed Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford, Ramon Novarro, Anna May Wong, and others.
Ruth Harriet Louise is known for the sensitivity she evoked in her subjects' expressions and gestures. She married film director Leigh Jason in 1930. From 1930 on, Louise free-lanced photographing performers not under studio contracts.
Ruth Harriet Louise died in 1944, possibly in California.
