Picturing Michigan-born photographer Todd Webb who used his camera to showcase everyday life in Paris, New York, the American south-west and parts of Africa. His work was typified by seemingly simple pictures that were surprisingly complex when examined up close. In a booth at this year’s AIPAD at Pier 94 in New York, some of his finest images will be on display.

Check them out for more information and start to see our world through photos!

Suffolk and Hester Streets, New York, 1946

After serving in the second world war, Webb moved to New York, where he nurtured a friendship with Alfred Stieglitz and his wife, Georgia O’Keeffe, who introduced him to Beaumont Newhall. Later, Newhall curated the first major exhibition of Webb’s photographs for the Museum of the City of New York.

All photographs courtesy of Todd Webb Archive.

Times Square, New York, 1946

Webb would spend his days walking the streets of New York, remarking in his diary how much joy he experienced. ‘I see wondrous things!’ he wrote.

Rue Mademoiselle, Paris, 1949

Webb moved to Paris in 1948, photographing for Esso France. He fell in love with the city and would create his second major body of work there.

Avenue du Maine, Paris, 1950

Webb’s work has been shown in 25 major museums and galleries, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Place du Commerce, Paris, 1949

‘He has chosen to record that which is not spectacular; his approach is the opposite of the news photographer, who seeks the novel and the unusual.’

Election Day, Vote for Independence from France, Togo, 1958

After he was hired in 1957 by the UN to capture its general assembly on film, Webb then won a contract to photograph sub–Saharan Africa in 1958.

Family, Kenya, 1958

These newly discovered colour pictures documented people in their communities with a focus on workers and local industries.

Two Women on the Beach, Somalia, 1958

‘Until I discovered photography in 1939, I had quite a normal life,” he wrote. “The banking business and the export business, with a few years prospecting for gold in south-western United States and Central America constituted my conception of the ideal life. Came 1939, and photography – and I really started to live.’

Ghana, 1958

The series is seen as important and distinctive not only for being in color but also that it’s the only known photographic documentation of its kind during this period.

Texaco Station, Togo, 1958

’Creative photography does not have anything to do with location, projects or causes as such, yet it can involve any one of them,’ he wrote. ‘It is a need to express something within the photographer. A creative photograph is one seen through the photographer. The reason for making the photograph is often unexplainable.’