“The Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU presents the southeastern U.S. premiere of Ruth Gruber: Photojournalist. Headlining Art Basel season in Miami Beach, the new exhibition celebrates the remarkable life, vision, and heroic tenacity of this twentieth-century pioneer and trailblazer. Once the world’s youngest PhD, Ruth Gruber passed away recently at the age of 105. The show features more than 60 photographs including gelatin silver prints plus an archival trove of personal letters, telegrams, printed magazines, and assorted ephemera documenting the artist’s career. The photographs in this exhibition span more than fifty years, from Gruber’s groundbreaking reportage of the Soviet Arctic in the 1930s and iconic images of Jewish refugees from the ship Exodus 1947, to her later photographs of Ethiopian Jews in the midst of civil war in the 1980s. A selection of Gruber’s vintage prints, never before exhibited, will be presented alongside contemporary prints made from her original negatives.
Gruber was the author of twenty books and is the recipient of ICP’s 2011 Infinity Awards Cornell Capa Award. Her reportage and photojournalism acted as both advocate and witness for her subjects throughout her extensive career. Ruth Gruber: Photojournalist will celebrate one of the twentieth century’s great humanitarians and photojournalists. “These messages of hope and of living with a heroic purpose to make a difference ring true in today’s world, and align powerfully with the mission of the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU,” said the Museum Director, Susan Gladstone. “We are thrilled to bring this epic story of Ruth Gruber’s life and photos to Miami Beach during Art Basel season.” — FIU
Ruth Gruber. Eklutna woman reading Life Magazine, Hooper Bay, Alaska, 1941-43 © Ruth Gruber
Ruth Gruber. A proud father putting his baby to sleep in a bassinet he constructed from gathered rags and pieces of wood, Cyprus Internment Camp, 1947 © Ruth Gruber
Ruth Gruber. Romanian families reunite in Haifa Port. Many had not seen each other since the beginning of World War II, Israel, 1951 © Ruth Gruber
Ruth Gruber. Children in a Jewish school and soup kitchen, Casablanca, Morocco, 1952 © Ruth Gruber
Ruth Gruber. Ethiopian Jewish mother with a photograph of her children, who have already immigrated to Israel, Ethiopia, 1985 © Ruth Gruber
Ruth Gruber. Students waiting on a U.S. Indian Service school bus, Ward Cove, Alaska Territory, 1941–43 © Ruth Gruber
Wounded refugee from Exodus 1947 is aided by a British soldier and a friend. British soldiers were ordered to un-bandage all wounds to confirm that the refugees were not faking injuries, Haifa Port, Palestine, July 18, 1947 © Ruth Gruber
Unidentified Photographer. Ruth Gruber, Alaska, 1941-43
This exhibition is on loan from the International Center for Photography (ICP) in New York, is drawn from Gruber’s private archive, and was organized by ICP Curator Maya Benton. The Miami persentation is organized by Jackie Goldstein, Curator of the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU.
Images courtesy Jewish Museum of Florida.