Ruth Bernhard  Ruth Bernhard (October 14, 1905 – December 18, 2006) was a German-born American photographer. Bernhard was born in Berlin and studied at the Berlin Academy of Art from 1925–27. By 2 years old her parents were divorced and she only met her mother twice afterwards. She was raised by two schoolteacher sisters and their mother. Bernhard's father, Lucian Bernhard, was known for his poster and typeface design, many of which bear his name and are still in use. Lucian was a major proponent of Ruth's work and offered her advice often. Bernhard studied art history and typography at the Academy of Fine Arts, Berlin before moving to New York to join her father. She began teaching at the University of California in 1958, while also giving lectures, classes and workshops all over the United States. In 1927 Bernhard moved to New York City, where her father was already living. She worked as an assistant to Ralph Steiner in "Delineator" magazine, but he terminated her employment for indifferent performance. Using the severence pay, Bernhard bought her own camera equipment. By the late-1920s, while living in Manhattan, Bernhard was heavily involved in the lesbian sub-culture of the artistic community, becoming friends with photographer Berenice Abbott and her lover, critic Elizabeth McCausland. Her first realization that she was attracted to other women occurred on New Year's Eve 1928 when she met the painter Patti Light. She wrote about her "bisexual escapades" in her memoir. In 1934 Bernhard began photographing women in the nude. It would be this art form for which she would eventually become best known. In 1935, she chanced to meet Edward Weston on the beach in Santa Monica. She would later say;  Bernhard was so inspired by Weston's work that, after meeting him in 1935, she moved to California (where he lived). In 1939, Bernhard moved back to New York for eight years, during which time she met photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Bernhard was inspired by the small things in her life. In an interview from 1999 with Photographers Forum, Ruth states," I’m most interested in—the little things that nobody observes, that nobody thinks are of any value". In the same interview she stated that,"Everything is universal" and that she was "very much aware of that". This idea of minimalism drove her passion for photography. In 1934 Ruth received a commission from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to photograph works for the "Machine Art" exhibition catalog.