Inge Morath

Inge Morath |

A photographer conquers the world
Inge Morath achieved worldwide fame as a photographer. The wife of the American writer Arthur Miller received many awards for her photographs both in the USA and in Austria. 


1923  Inge Morath is born in Graz. 

1940s  The daughter of two scientists studies languages and journalism in Berlin. 

1949  As a journalist who has worked for magazines in Vienna and Salzburg and for an agency in Munich, she goes to Paris as a copywriter for the Magnum photography agency.

1951  Fascinated by photography, she goes to London to learn this craft.

1950s  Inge Morath works as a photographer for magazines like Vogue and Paris Match. Her photo journeys take her all over Europe as well as to Africa and the Middle East. 

1962  The Styrian-born photographer marries the writer Arthur Miller, whom she met during shooting on the set of „Misfits“. 

1960s/1970s  Morath and her husband travel extensively and jointly publish books about their impressions of these journeys.

1980s/1990s   The artist pursues projects of her own as well as commissioned work. Inge Morath is chiefly famous for her artistic portraits. Her photographic subjects include many famous personalities. 

2002  Inge Morath dies in a New York hospital.

Marilyn Monroe, photographed by Inge Morath |

Inge Morath was born in 1923 in the Styrian capital of Graz, but grew up primarily in Germany and France because the profession of her parents – who were both scientists – took the family all over Europe. After finishing school, Morath decided to study languages and journalism in Berlin. In the 1940s, she worked as an editor in Salzburg and Vienna.

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Shortly afterwards she went to Paris, where she began working as a copywriter for the famous Magnum photography agency (but was soon re-hired as a photographer by the same agency, which still handles her affairs today). Later she went to London, where she learned the art of photography from Simon Guttmann.
From then on, she photographed for magazines such as Life, Vogue and Paris Match. Her work as a photographer took her all over Europe and also to the USA.
In 1960, while working as a photographer on the set of „Misfits“ (starring Marilyn Monroe), she met Arthur Miller, Monroe’s husband and the author of the film’s screenplay. After his divorce in 1962, Morath married him and moved with him from New York to Connecticut. Their daughter Rebecca was born in 1964.

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Inge Morath’s marriage to Arthur Miller was not only a private bond, but also a professional alliance. The writer and the photographer travelled together (to Russia and China) and published books together about their journeys.

But Inge Morath also continued to pursue her own projects as well as to accept commissioned work. The pictures she took of people and places can still be viewed at exhibitions all over the world. She received many awards and distinctions for her evocative photographs, such as an honorary doctorate from the University of Connecticut and the Medal of Honour in Gold from the City of Vienna. She also received the Austrian State Prize for Photography.
Inge Morath died in New York in January 2002.