*Top,* New Yorkers, photographed by Ruth Orkin in 1948; *above,* Orkin snapping a shot of an El Al stewardess in Tel Aviv, 1951.

Julie Adams, photographed by Orkin in Los Angeles, 1952.

*Top,* Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer on the set of *Main Street to Broadway,* in New York, 1953; *above,* from Orkin’s “Who Works Harder?” series: hanging up the negligées, 1949.

Taking a walk on the beach in East Hampton, 1949.

A rainy day in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, circa 1947.

*Top,* Nanette Fabray on the set of *The Band Wagon,* in Los Angeles, 1952; *above,* from the “Beauty Parlor” series: women waiting for their hair to dry, 1949.

A model posing on a rooftop in New York, 1947.

*Top,* a rare image of Orkin in front of the camera; *above,* a phone-booth chat in New York City, 1949.

Jane Russell during a recording-studio session in New York, 1950.

A mother and daughter in matching outfits, circa 1950s.

(Mid-)20th-Century Women

Ruth Orkin’s postwar photographs, collected in a new book, offer a snapshot of the modern woman navigating life in the big city

Born in 1921, Ruth Orkin grew up on set. Her mother, Mary Ruby Orkin, was an actress in silent films, and actors, directors, and journalists populated Orkin’s childhood in Hollywood. Ruth received her first camera—a 39-cent Univex—as a gift when she was 10. In 1939, at 17, she set off cross-country with her bicycle, camera in tow, to see the World’s Fair in New York City. The journey would take three weeks; on the way she hitchhiked some distances, cycled others, and was even featured in the pages of The Washington Post and the Evening Public Ledger.

Despite Orkin’s panache, upon her return to Los Angeles she found it difficult to break into photography. She began work as a messenger for MGM with the hope of becoming a cinematographer, only to learn that the union didn’t accept female members. A two-year stint in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps ended in 1943, at which point Orkin moved to New York City.