“One evening in 1956 our friend Andrew Wolf burst into our house in Rochester with the startling news that he had bought a weekly suburban paper, The Brighton-Pittsford Post. He explained that he planned to report local news and publish columns on a variety of subjects, such as reviews of the theater, concerts, motion pictures, and cooking. “You’ll be the food editor,” he told me! “What! I can’t do that!” “Why not? I know you can write because I like to read it. You can cook well, because I like to eat it.”
—from Beaumont Newhall, Focus: Memoirs of a Life in Photography, Bulfinch Press, 1993

Considered by many to be the father of the history of photography, Beaumont Newhall was known by his intimate circle as a great chef and gracious host as well. This beautifully designed volume contains a substantial selection of Newhall’s articles and recipes culled from his weekly column, “Epicure Corner,” which appeared in The Brighton-Pittsford Post in Rochester, New York, from 1956–1969.

Accompanying the columns is a selection of photographs made by some of the “Newhall Circle,” which included Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paul Strand, and many other twentieth-century photographic luminaries, as well as reminiscences from his many colleagues and friends who enjoyed Beaumont’s efforts in the kitchen. This tribute publication to a seminal figure in the history of the medium was edited by David Scheinbaum, who worked with Newhall for 15 years as his assistant, until his death in 1993. Scheinbaum lovingly introduces the book with a personal essay.

About the Author

Beaumont Newhall (1908–1993) was an influential curator, art historian, writer, and photographer. In 1940, Newhall became the first director of the Museum of Modern Art’s photography department. He served as curator of the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House from 1948 to 1958, then as its director from 1958 to 1971. While at the George Eastman House, Newhall was responsible for amassing one of the greatest photographic collections in the world.

David Scheinbaum has been photographing and teaching photography since the early 1970s. He is the Anne and John Marion Professor and Chair of the Photography Department at the Marion Center for Photographic Arts at the College of Santa Fe. David worked with the preeminent photo historian Beaumont Newhall from 1978 until Newhall’s death in 1993 and continues as co-executor of his estate. With his wife, Janet Russek, he operates Scheinbaum & Russek Ltd., private fine art photography dealers and consultants in Santa Fe, New Mexico.