The New York Photo League
Sometime around 1938, Calomiris joined the New York Photo League.1 The leftist organization had a strong affiliation with communism– many members of the league were also members of the Communist Party. In addition to attracting many well known photographers such as Berenice Abbott, the organization offered photography classes to the community. The head of the photography school was Sid Grossman— one of the founders of the organization— who Calomiris likely studied with as a student at the League.
No Jobs for Women
Calomiris’ dream of becoming a professional photographer was hindered by her class and gender. With World War II coming to an end, women were encouraged to go back into the domestic sphere, and no one would hire a woman photographer.2 In her autobiography, Calomiris recalled:
The shortage of work for women following WWII particularly affected butch and masculine-presenting women. Rusty Brown recalled in her essay, “Always Me,” that as the war started to end “our world started to collapse.”3 The freedoms once felt by (lesbian) women in the professional sphere quickly disappeared when men returned from the front, making it all the more difficult to find work.
Calomiris’ Portfolio
While Calomiris was never successfully able to make a career out of photography, her portfolio at the Lesbian Herstory Archives demonstrates her artistic skill. Her photographs are prime examples of lesbian gaze in 1940s photography, and uniquely feature women in spaces typically occupied by men.
