Walter A. Rosenblum (1919–2006) was an American photographer whose work spanned the decades from 1938-1980. He photographed the World War II D-Day landing at Normandy in 1944, fought through France and Germany, and He the among the first Allied photographers to enter the liberated Dachau concentration camp.[1] One of the most highly decorated U.S. Army Signal Corps combat cameramen, Rosenblum received military decorations including a Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Presidential Unit Citation, 4 Battle Stars and an Arrowhead Device. His photography is in collections of museums around the world.[2]
Rosenblum was born on October 1, 1919, in New York City.
Rosenblum was a member of the New York Photo League where he was mentored by Paul Strand.[3] He became president of the League in 1941.[4] He taught photography at Brooklyn College for 40 years.
From 1952 to 1976, he spent summers in Norfolk, CT, as a professor at the Yale Summer School of Music and Art, where he taught photography.
His wife was groundbreaking photographic historian Naomi Rosenblum, author of THE WORLD HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY and A HISTORY OF WOMEN PHOTOGRAPHERS (Abbeville Press). They had two daughters, Lisa, a telecommunications executive and documentary producer/director Nina.[5]
Rosenblum died January 23, 2006.[6]
| U.S. military decorations | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Decoration | Notes | Refs. | |
| Silver Star | ||||
| Bronze Star | ||||
| Purple Heart | ||||
| Presidential Unit Citation | ||||
Walter and Naomi Rosenblum Collection of Photography and Photographic History, Fales Library and Special Collections at New York University Special Collections