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Life & Times
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If you know of similar portraits, or can provide further information (i.e., name of photographer, dates, studio number, etc...) or a better scan of any of the images depicted on this page, please contact the . The LBS is interested in documentation of any kind. These images - drawn from the collection of the Louise Brooks Society as well as from various private sources - are offered here for the edification and enjoyment of viewers.
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This page presents portraits of Louise Brooks by the photographer M.I. Boris. Once a court photographer in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Boris fled Europe in the aftermath of World War I. Relocating to New York City, Boris soon gained a reputation and began taking portraits of many celebrities and movie stars during the mid-1920's. Like the Pictorialists (whose approach to photography was painterly), Boris manipulated his prints by drawing on them in order to affect shadows, contours and backgrounds. His style is singular among the early "Hollywood photographers." At one time, Boris was offered a job with Paramount when the studio moved its operations West, but this old world gentleman-photographer refused to leave his adopted home. (The Boris family lived for a time above the famous Stock Club.) Much of his work was lost when the glass plates which served as his negatives were destroyed. Today, he is a much undervalued artist.
