Timeline

1899

Born in Frankfurt, Germany to affluent bourgeois family

1920

Enrolled in the University of Frankfurt to study mathematics and physics, but soon changed to art history, eventually pursuing a doctoral degree

1928

To illustrate her dissertation on an architect, she took up photography and began using a 9x12c, Voigtlander plate camera. She eventually abandoned her dissertation to pursue a career as photographer

1929 - 1930

Her photographs were reproduced in photo-essays for Frankfurter Illustriete’s weekly supplement Das Illustriete Blatt

1929

Purchased a Leica camera

1930 - 1939

Her portraits, fashion and architectural studies were published in VU, Harper’s Bazaar, Le Monde, L’Illustration, Illustré, and Regards. Her work was included in the Groupe Annuel des Photographes at La Pleiade in 1931, 1932, 1933, and 1938 alongside that of Germaine Krull, André Kertesz, Florence Henri, Emmanuel Sougez, Man Ray, Henri Cartier-Bresson. Despite this she did not communicate or work closely with other photographers

1930

Moved to Paris

1932

New York gallerist Julien Levy included Bing’s work in his seminal exhibition

1934

Experimented with solarization (which she discovered independently of Man Ray) to create a dream-like night-time atmosphere of statuaries, lights, and water

1936

At the invitation of Carmel Snow she visited the US, where she met Alfred Stieglitz. This same year she had solo exhibitions at Galerie Chasseurs d’Images and Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France

1937

Married pianist and musicologist Konrad Wolff. Her photographs were included in New York’s Museum of Modern Art’s “History of Photography” exhibition

1940

She and her husband interned in Paris as enemy aliens, and in 1941 they immigrated to New York

1947

Started using electronic flash and larger format Rollei camera

1957

Began working exclusively in color until stopping completely in 1959

1959

Quit photography and devoted herself to poetry, which she composed in English, French, and German. Made collages and drawings that incorporated photographic elements

1976

Her first solo exhibition in 17 years, Lee Witkin Gallery, New York. The show revived and sparked a new interest in her work

Published "Numbers in Images," and is rediscovered as a photographer by Museum of Modern Art in New York, USA

1982

Published "Women from Childhood to Old Age"

1985

A retrospective "Ilse Bing: Three Decades of Photography" was shown at the New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, USA

1987

The retrospective then moved to the International Center of Photography in New York, and later to the Kunstverein in Frankfurt

1998

Died in New York, NY