Flo Fox

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Flo Fox (/fl fɒks/; born Florence Blossom Fox, September 26, 1945, in Miami Beach, Florida), is an American street photographer.[1][2] Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 30, Fox, now 78 and completely paralyzed, still works as a photographer, having attendants, friends, and strangers take photos for her with an autofocus camera.[3]

Career[edit]

Black and white portrait of Flo FOx by Gigi Stoll taken in NYC 1994.
© Flo Fox by Gigi Stoll, NYC 1994

Throughout her career and with an archive of over 130,000 works, Fox photographed various subjects in New York City. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum[4] and the Smithsonian.[5][6] Her images have appeared in LIFE Magazine, New York Magazine and been exhibited in Paris, London, Barcelona and Mexico. Fox has also been interviewed on several talks shows, including Regis and Kathy Lee and Tom Snyder.[7] Photographer Richard Young credited Fox with "giving [him] the confidence to pick-up the camera".[8]

During the early 1980s, she hosted her own show called the Foto Flo Show, interviewing other photographers such as Ruth Orkin and Ralph Gibson on their work and their creative methods. Riley Hooper made a short documentary film, FLO, which was featured[6] in The New York Times in 2013.

Fox is a disability advocate and has taught photography class for the blind and visually impaired students at the Lighthouse for the Blind.[9] Despite blindness, multiple sclerosis, and lung cancer, she continues to photograph the streets of New York City.[10][8]

Fox also appeared briefly as herself in the 2010 documentary, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Rejino, Richard (April 19, 2020). "Flo Fox-My Favorite Images". International Leica Society. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  2. ^ Dullea, Georgia (April 5, 1980). "A Camera Does The Seeing for Her: Sight Began to Deteriorate Fragmented Images Arranged Loan of Cameras". The New York Times. ProQuest 121353840 – via ProQuest.
  3. ^ Frishberg, Hannah (March 6, 2015). "Meet Flo Fox, the Blind Photographer Who's Chronicled New York City for 40 Years". Curbed NY. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  4. ^ "Brooklyn Museum". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  5. ^ "Riverside Park Teens, 1980". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  6. ^ a b Hooper, Riley (October 21, 2013). "'Flo: Portrait of a Street Photographer'". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  7. ^ Richardson, Clem (February 7, 2011). "EX-PHOTOG WHO NEVER LOST FOCUS". New York Daily News. ProQuest 851799544 – via ProQuest.
  8. ^ a b Young, Richard (2007-10-27). "Photography guide: fashion & parties". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  9. ^ Iverem, Esther (March 4, 1990). "QUEENS CULTURE Stalking the Streets To Build Her Fortress". Newsday. ProQuest 278159410 – via ProQuest.
  10. ^ Stoll, Gigi (March 2021). "Flo Fox". Two by Two Media. Retrieved September 28, 2022.