Joyce Tenneson, Larissa in Gold, 1990s
Mystical. Timeless. Unapologetically feminine. These are just some words that describe the trailblazing photography of Joyce Tenneson. Released publicly this month, Unveiled: Joyce Tenneson and the Heroine’s Journey is a new PBS World documentary that dissects how Tenneson’s photography changed the world at large and her family at home.
“The thing about the hero’s journey or the heroine’s journey is by nature, it’s flawed,” says Rebecca Dreyfus, co-director and one of the three filmmakers who created the documentary. Unveiled provides a detailed account of a woman trying to balance her home, creative and professional lives, all of which had hills and valleys and were often at odds with each other.
From Massachusetts, Tenneson got her start in the photography world by modeling for Polaroid in college. “[Polaroid] gave me a free camera and all the film I could use, so I was off like a racehorse,” recalls Tenneson of her origins.
Tenneson compiled her work into multiple critically acclaimed books. This includes her 2002 release Wise Women, a collection of pictures of women aged 65 to 100, which remains one of the best-selling photography books of all time. In her later works, documented in books like Intimacy, Tenneson explores nature photography by capturing flowers and trees.
Despite thematic changes across her works, her focus remained the same: Portraiture. For Tenneson, a portrait’s aim is not to flatter the subject: “I love getting to know people and I love delving into their innermost life, and that’s what really makes me interested in doing portraits.”
Many notable figures posed for a Tenneson portrait, including Willie Nelson, Coretta Scott King, Gloria Steinem and Jodie Foster. Oftentimes, however, Tenneson says she would find subjects on the subway or walking on the street.