Auerbach, Ellen (1906–2004)

German-American photographer. Born Ellen Rosenberg in Karlsruhe, Germany, May 20, 1906; died in New York, age 98, July 31, 2004; studied sculpture at Kunstakademie, Karlsruhe, Germany, 1924–1927; married Walter Auerbach (stage designer), in London, 1936 (div. 1945).

Known for her advertising images, documentation, portraits, experimental photography, and powerful photos of children, began training as a sculptor at Kunstakademie and later in Stuttgart; traveled to Berlin to study photography privately with Bauhaus professor Walter Peterhans (1928); with Grete Stern, set up a studio in Dessau (1932), Ringl + Pit, one of the world's 1st female-run commercial photographic firms, where they photographed leading figures, including Bertolt Brecht; with the rise of Hitler, immigrated to Palestine (1933) and opened a children's portrait studio in Tel Aviv; on marriage, moved to US (1937) and worked with husband at the Lessing Rosenwald Print Collection in Philadelphia, using photography to restore prints; combined photography with work in education at the Menninger Foundation in Kansas (1946–49), where she used film and still photography to study the behavior of young children; photographed extensively in Argentina, Greece, Majorca, Germany, and Austria; chose Mexico for her last photographic journey, in collaboration with Eliot Porter, documenting Mexico's church art and religious celebrations in Mexican Churches (1987) and Mexican Celebrations (1990); was an educational therapist in New York (1965–80).