Lotte Jacobi

About the Artist

Otto Steinert. Portrait of Lotte Jacobi. February 1973. Museum Folkwang, Essen. © Estate Otto Steinert, Museum Folkwang, Essen
Alternate Name(s) Johanna Alexandra (Lotte) Jacobi (Birth Name)
Atelier Jacobi (Studio Name)

Meeting Points

Cultural Hubs Berlin
New York
Exhibitions Foto der Gegenwart, 1929
Publications Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, 1917–31
Vogue, 1892–1949

Artist Chronology

August 17, 1896	Born At location: Lotte Jacobi	Thorn
1896–1920	Her father, a third-generation photographer, runs his studio in the same building as the family's home Lotte and her sister experiment with photography at an early age. At location: Lotte Jacobi	Posen
1908–09	Takes photographs with a 9x12 cm Ernemann plate-back camera and builds a camera obscura At location: Lotte Jacobi	Posen
1914–16	Studies art history and literature at the academy At location: Lotte Jacobi	Posen
1921–25	Works in her father's studio At location: Lotte Jacobi	Berlin
1925–27	Studies phototechnology and cinematography at the Staatliche Höhere Fachschule für Phototechnik. Buys a movie camera At location: Lotte Jacobi	Munich
September 1927–1935	Lives in the back rooms of her father's studio and uses the studio for independent projects At location: Lotte Jacobi	Berlin
1927–32	Publishes photographs in Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung, Die Dame, Der Querschnitt, UHU, Berliner Morgenpost, B-Z am Mittag, Das Blatt der Hausfrau, and Die Woche Contributor: Lotte Jacobi	Berlin
1928	Purchases a 9 x 12 cm Ermanox with anastigmat Ernostar 1:1.8, 16.5 cm focal length lens, which was marketed for indoor and nighttime photography At location: Lotte Jacobi	Berlin
April 1928	Photographs of Erwin Piscator's home by Sasha Stone and Lotte Jacobi are published in Die Dame Contributor: Lotte Jacobi, Sasha Stone	Berlin
1929	Buys her first Leica. In the studio she continues using an 18 x 24 cm view camera with a Perschied soft-focus lens At location: Lotte Jacobi	Berlin
1929–31	Elisabeth Röttgers, also an assistant to Yva, works for Lotte Jacobi for two years At location: Lotte Jacobi Affiliated: Yva (Else Simon)	Berlin
January 20–February 17, 1929	Fotografie der Gegenwart at Museum Folkwang Kestner Gesellschaft v.V, Königstrasse 8, Hannover March 10–April 7, 1929 Galerie Neumann-Nierendorf, Lützowstrasse 32, Berlin April 20–May 20, 1929 Whitechapel Art Gallery, London June 6–29, 1929 Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt July 7–August 8, 1929 Leipziger Kunstverein, Augustusplatz 6, Leipzig August 18–September 8, 1929 Lichthof des Neuen Rathauses, Dresden September 15–October 6, 1929 Kunstverein, Rostock October 20-November 10, 1929 am Adolf-Mittag-See, Städtisches Ausstellungsamt, Magdeburg November 28–December 19, 1929 Landesgewerbeanstalt, Kaiserslautern February 23–March 23, 1930 Vereinigung Göttinger Kunstfreunde, Göttingen May 18–June 8, 1930 Participant: Berenice Abbott, Herbert Bayer, Aenne Biermann, Max Burchartz, Florence Henri, Lotte Jacobi, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, El Lissitzky, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Walter A. Peterhans, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Hans Richter, August Sander, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Lucia Moholy, Karl Blossfeldt, Erich Comeriner, Eli Lotar, Oskar Nerlinger, Robert Petschow, Frieda Gertrud Riess, Sasha Stone, Hans Finsler, Paul Edmund Hahn, Cami Stone	Essen
1930	Lotte Jacobi photographs Leni Riefenstahl for Scherl's magazine Contributor: Lotte Jacobi At location: Leni Riefenstahl	Berlin
1930–Spring 1931	Works for the Soviet photo agency Press Clichee Moskau At location: Lotte Jacobi	Berlin
June–September 1930	Das Lichtbild exhibition Participant: Aenne Biermann, Bill Brandt, Max Burchartz, César Domela-Nieuwenhuis, Florence Henri, Lotte Jacobi, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, Helmar Lerski, Walter A. Peterhans, August Sander, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Edward Weston, Lucia Moholy, Werner Rohde, Franz Roh, Marianne Breslauer, Alexander Hackenschmied, Edmund Kesting, Jean Moral, Willy Zielke, Lore Feininger, Hans Finsler	Munich
Summer 1930	Lotte Jacobi invites Tina Modotti to use Atelier Jacobi during Modotti's stay in Berlin. Jacobi arranges an exhibition of Modotti's work at Atelier Jacobi At location: Lotte Jacobi, Tina Modotti	Berlin
August 1932–February 1933	Travels and shoots approximately 6,000 photographs during her trip. Uses a Leica and a 9 x 12 Ilka artist's camera At location: Lotte Jacobi	Moscow Uzbekistan Tajikistan
1934	Experiments with macrophotography of crystals At location: Lotte Jacobi	Berlin
October 1934–September 1935	Jacobi takes on ownership of her father's studio with a non-Jewish business partner, hoping to avoid Aryanization. However, Bender, the partner, does not meet race law requirements and the studio is threatended with expulsion from the Reichspressekammer At location: Lotte Jacobi	Berlin
September 1935–1955	Lives in New York At location: Lotte Jacobi	New York
October 30, 1935	Opens a photo studio at 57th Street and Sixth Avenue At location: Lotte Jacobi	New York
Beginining in 1935	Publishes photographs in The New York Herald Tribune, The New York Times Magazine, U.S. Camera Annual, Time, Scientific American, Harper's, and Aperture Contributor: Lotte Jacobi	Millerton New York
1936	U.S. Camera salon exhibition Participant: Lotte Jacobi, Peter Sekaer	New York
September 1936–September 1938	Opens her own studio At location: Lotte Jacobi	New York
October 20–November 2, 1936	Third International Leica Exhibit Participant: Lotte Jacobi, Carl Van Vechten	New York
1938	Lotte Jacobi photographs Alfred Stieglitz at An American Place At location: Lotte Jacobi, Alfred Stieglitz	New York
March 21, 1938	Gives a lecture at the Photo League At location: Lotte Jacobi	New York
June 1938	Lotte Jacobi and Berenice Abbott meet At location: Berenice Abbott, Lotte Jacobi	New York
1940	Lotte Jacobi photographs Berenice Abbott At location: Berenice Abbott, Lotte Jacobi	New York
1940	Buys a Rolleiflex camera At location: Lotte Jacobi	New York
1944	Becomes an American citizen At location: Lotte Jacobi	New York
1947–55	Experiments with cameraless photography in the Photogenics series At location: Lotte Jacobi	New York
April 6–July 11, 1948	In and Out of Focus: A Survey of Today's Photography at The Museum of Modern Art Participant: Berenice Abbott, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Lotte Jacobi, Lisette Model, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Edward W. Quigley	New York
August 1–September 17, 1950	Photographs by 51 Photographers at The Museum of Modern Art Participant: Lotte Jacobi, Peter Sekaer, Arthur Siegel	New York
1955–90	Lives in New Hampshire At location: Lotte Jacobi	Concord
May 6, 1990	Dies At location: Lotte Jacobi	Concord