Allan I. Ludwig ( Am. B. 1933) has been a well known photographer for most of his life. He received his B.F.A. Degree, M.A. and Ph.D in Art History from Yale University. He taught photography at The Rhode Island School of Design. During the course of his career he won " The John Addison Porter Prize " at Yale University and held a three year Fellowship from the Bollingen Foundation . His book, " Graven Images" on early American gravestones , was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and received favorable reviews from The New York Times and The Times Literary Supplement . It has been in print for almost 60 years and is considered the seminal work in the field.

Ludwig's photographic work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art Study Collection, The Chrysler Museum , The Smithsonian Institution, The American Academy In Rome, The Center For Creative Photography, Tucson, Arizona, The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., and many other prestigious institutions. He has shown his work at The New Museum in New York City , I.C.P. Manhattan, The Mutter Museum in Philadelphia , The Alternative Museum, New York, New York back in l977, The Art Break Gallery, June, 2008, Brooklyn, New York, Julie Dermansky Gallery, Manhattan, 1997, The Ricco Maresca Gallery , NY,NY, 2002 and other galleries and museums nationality and internationally. His interest in Graffiti and Street Art began in the l970's and to date he has over 40 ,000 photos on Flickr available for public view. Living in downtown New York City he noted the gentrification of his neighborhood and thought the ubiquitous street art and graffiti would soon disappear. Being a photographer he set out to preserve it before it vanished. Thus began a decades long project which continues to this day. Other categories are the objects he has found on the street and a series of dolls. He is also photographing the dumpsters of lower Manhattan . There is also a series on Mannequins and Wax figures.

Ludwig and his partner, Gwen Akin , introduced platinum printing to Japan in the late 1980's with a show of contact prints made with a massive 20"X24" custom made camera. When he began his career in the l950's , Edward Steichen, who was then the Director of the Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art , purchased a number of his traditional black and white gelatin silver prints. He personally told Ludwig , " The most important thing a photographer can do is to take photographs", this made a lot of sense to him and he has followed his advice ever since. Today, at the age of 91 , his archive is monumental. Ludwig stated, " Photography is probably the most important visual media tool today ". It has also been a gateway to a personally rich and rewarding life.

Some of the images here are available for purchase as unsigned prints on Saatchi, com under his name Allan I. Ludwig.