Marion Michelle and Joris Ivens

Having finished her studies at the University of Chicago, Marion and
her Leica set out to Europe. London, Paris, Vienna, Moscow. She came
back with photographs. And a new regard on the world.
This regard brought her to New York, where the "Film and Photo
League" had its headquarter. She already knew the names of
Ralph Steiner, Leo Hurwitz, and Paul Strand, whose films were setting a new
standard of aesthetic and social consciousness. Marion joined this
group of intellectuals in their interrogation of America’s Dream
traumatised by the Depression.

Sharing the precarious life of artits in a big city, she did photo
reportage for newspapers and magazines, published a children’s book
with photographs on New York and learnt the basics of cinema by
making 16mm short documentary films. Engaged by Frontier Films, she
became still photographer on Native Land. Directed by Paul Strand and
Leo Hurwitz, this full length film on the violation of civil rights
was perpetually short of money and took four and a half years to
complete.
When, in 1941, Paul Strand proposed that the young photographer
should replace him on a mission to Mexico, Marion jumped at the
chance of a new adventure.
Her fascination for Mexico and her sympathy for its people are
evident in the photographs she made.

She worked as camerawoman and assistant with Joris Ivens between 1945
and 1950, after which she settled in Paris and maried Jean Guyard.

In 1997, her Mexican prints came to light from the bottom of a trunk.
They had not been seen since 1942, exhibited with Man Ray in
Hollywood at the Frank Perls Gallery on Sunset Boulevard.

Today, her works are at the George Eastmann House, Rochester.