Born: Circa 1912, Russia
Died: 1 January 1995
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
Russian-born American photographer Nina Leen was a regular contributor to Life magazine from 1940 until it closed in 1972, and is best known for her photographs of animals and her portraits. She was also married to fashion photographer Serge Balkin.
She is believed to have been born between 1909 and 1914 in the Russian Empire, but went on to study painting in Berlin and living in Italy and Switzerland before moving to the U.S. in 1939. Her first Life photographs were published in April 1940, of tortoises at the Bronx Zoo. She went on to contribute more than 50 magazine covers and countless reports from all over the world. Her photographs would also be collected into a dozen books, from 1951’s Lucky, the Famous Foundling to 1981’s Rare and Unusual Animals.
Among the humans she covered were the American abstract artists The Irascibles, European royalty, fashion models, dancers and actresses.