Nancy Rexroth

Nancy Rexroth is an American photographer noted for her pioneer work utilizing the Diana camera. In 1977, she published Iowa - the first printed monograph of work completed with a plastic camera.

Rexroth was born in Washington D.C. While completing her BFA in English at American University, she developed an interest in photojournalism and was influenced by the work of Emmet Gowin, Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. She then went on to receive her MFA in Photography at Ohio University (1969-1971).

In 1969, during her graduate studies, Ohio University professor, Arnold Gassan, introduced Rexroth to the Diana camera. This toy camera used 120 (medium format) film and was known for the soft focus and impressionistic, 'dreamlike' images it produced as a result of its plastic lens. Although some photographers saw the effects of the Diana camera as hindrances, Rexroth embraced and explored its defects.

After completing her MFA, Rexroth moved back to the Washington, D.C. area. While there she participated in a summer internship at the Smithsonian Institution, researching the platinotype process. As a result of this internship came what would be Rexroth's second publication, The Platinotype 1977 (1976), a pamphlet on modern platinum printing.

In 1973, she moved back to Ohio to teach at Antioch College and Wright State University, and to work on a photographic series that became her first published book, Iowa, funded by a National Endowment for the Arts Grant.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2024