Alan Fisher

Alan Fisher (1913-1988)

Robin Matt
Alan Fisher Instagram

Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1913, a graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School, Alan Fisher became a noted, award-winning daily news photographer in New York City while still in his twenties, taking many iconic photos of people and events, some of which are to be seen in the collections of the Library Of Congress, and elsewhere.

He began freelancing for the New York World Telegram around 1934, and shortly thereafter became a staff photographer for that paper. In 1940 he began working for the daily tabloid, PM.

His career took a new direction when, at the U.S. entry into WWII, he was tapped to work for Nelson Rockefeller’s diplomatic mission to Brazil (OCIAA), where he documented Brazilian daily life, agriculture and industry to introduce America’s new ally to the U.S. public. In the course of his duties, Fisher created many striking portraits of Brazilian farmers, workers and indigenous people. In 1944 he accompanied the FEB (Brazilian Expeditionary Force) as a war corespondent documenting their military achievements in Italy.

After the war, Alan Fisher commenced a long career as a Foreign Service Officer, serving two long tours of duty in Brazil, first in Rio De Janeiro, and later, starting in 1966, in Sao Paulo as a U.S. Consular official. In between, he managed the motion picture division of the USIA in Washington D.C.

Upon retiring to Sarasota, Florida in 1972 he kept his hand in as a part-time staff photographer for the Sarasota Journal and the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Alan Fisher died in 1988 at the age of 75.  An archive of an estimated 1500 photos is being curated by his nephew, Robin Matt.