Editta Sherman’s Long Reign as ‘The Duchess of Carnegie Hall’
For a family, the quarters were cramped: 900 square feet, with a closet-size kitchen and a bathroom down the hall. For an artist, which Ms. Sherman considered herself to be, Studio 1208, was near-ideal. It was flooded with light from skylights and floor-to- ceiling windows facing north toward Central Park. And it was surrounded by stimulating, photogenic neighbors. The whole complex, with its rehearsal rooms, ballet and drama studios and work-live cells, was a hive of talent. Marlon Brando, Norman Mailer and Marilyn Monroe had been, or would be, in temporary residence; musical traffic came and went in Carnegie Hall downstairs ; Manhattan was just outside the door. Photo Installation view of “The Duchess of Carnegie Hall” at the New- York Historical Society . Ms. Sherman used an 8-by-10 camera to take portraits of celebrities. Credit Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times But life for the Shermans was not easy. Money was hard to find. A photographic practice had to be developed an...