Engstead, John (1909-1983)

Person

Dates

Existence: 1909-1983

Biography

John Engstead (September 22, 1909 - April 15, 1983) was an American photographer working in Hollywood during the mid-20th century. His first job was working as an office boy for Paramount Pictures' head of studio publicity, Harold Harley, in 1926. A year later, he was promoted to art supervisor after impressing Paramount with his creative directing on photos of Louise Brooks and Clara Bow. Engstead remained at Paramount until 1941 when the studio fired him. He was hired to work on freelance advertising and portrait photography assignments by Harper's Bazaar soon after. Throughout the 1940s, Engstead took fashion photography assignments from several other magazines, including Ladies Home Journal, Life, Mademoiselle, Vogue, and McCall's. In addition to his magazine work, Engstead was becoming a well-known celebrity photographer, with many Hollywood actresses flocking to his Los Angeles Studio for a session. Engstead went into semi-retirement in 1970, closing down his L.A. studio. He would occasionally accept television and special assignments until his death in 1983.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Keck, Libby

folder

Identifier: SC.214.7.11

Scope and Contents

This folder contains one 8x10" black and white photograph of Libby Keck with press release attached, stamped en verso "Photograph By/John Engstead"

Dates: 1933-2003

Found in: Special Collections and FIT Archive / Eleanor Lambert collection, 1942-2003 / Photographs and documents, 1993-1998

Filtered By

Subject: Fashion designers X