Ivan Dmitri (1900-1968), or Levon West, was well-known for his portrayals in color photography, watercolors and etchings. Dmitri developed an interest in art, but he chose to major in business administration at his father’s insistence. It was the New York Times’ publication of his etching of The Spirit of St. Louis upon Charles Lindbergh’s arrival in Paris that boosted his career as an artist. As one of the first artists to work with color photography, his interest brought recognition in the new medium, and to keep his two artistic fields apart, West used the name Ivan Dmitri for his photographic work. An ardent advocate for photography, Dmitri assisted in establishing one of the first photography exhibits at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and founded Photography in the Fine Arts in 1959 to gain acceptance of photography as an art medium.
Let’s take a look at Italy in 1948 captured by Dmitri:
Couples walk at dusk in Florence, Italy, 1948.
A street view taken from a car in Florence, Italy, 1948.
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