Barbara Blondeau was just 36 when she died of cancer in 1974, after a four-year battle. As Ron Walker noted, “Her work was cut short in mid-stride… yet it is impressive not only in its scope but also its impact and its truth.”
On the 50th anniversary of her passing, Stephen Daiter Gallery presents an exhibition and catalogue celebrating Blondeau’s innovative and experimental photographic career. Over forty vintage works will be on view—photograms, collages, early color, strip images, totems, Lucite portraits, cliché-verre, solarizations, and montages—offering a rich cross-section of her creative output.
Born in Detroit, Blondeau studied painting at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she discovered photography under Kenneth Josephson. She later earned her MS at the Institute of Design, studying with Aaron Siskind. There, she developed her signature in-camera “strip” photographs—elusive and experimental studies of time and motion that defy conventional interpretation.
Blondeau taught at St. Mary’s College and later at Philadelphia College of Art, where she inspired students with her intensity and vision. Even after her cancer diagnosis, she remained deeply committed to her work, continuing to photograph and apply for grants. As her partner Joan Redmond recalled, “She never stopped looking forward and making photographs… The curiosity she brought to everything she did energized her.”
Barbara Blondeau passed away on Christmas Eve, 1974, leaving behind a remarkable body of work. Her archive, preserved by the Visual Studies Workshop, is now represented by Stephen Daiter Gallery.