Victor Jorgensen

Jorgensen, Victor

Victor Jorgensen

Portland July 8, 1913

photographer

photojournalist

In 1942, Portland-born photographer Victor Jorgensen enlisted in the Navy. Edward Steichen, the renowned modernist photographer and lieutenant commander who oversaw Naval photography during World War II, selected Jorgensen--a Reed College graduate and editor at The Oregonian newspaper--to serve with his elite Naval Aviation Photographic Unit. Between 1943 and 1945, Jorgensen photographed on board the aircraft carriers USS Lexington and USS Monterey, the destroyer USS Albert W. Grant, and the hospital ship USS Solace, which served in the Pacific during the world-altering conflict.

Much more than documents of life and death at sea, Jorgensen’s striking and varied photographs are testaments to the range of experiences sailors at war faced on a daily basis, including dangerous aircraft takeoffs and landings, enemy fire, the drudgery of vessel maintenance and daily chores, camaraderie, fear, homesickness, and exhaustion. Central to Jorgensen’s compositions is the human body: He was markedly attentive to the outwardly strong but ultimately fragile individuals under constant threat of grave physical injury and death.

Male

Associate of: Edward Steichen (American, 1879-1973)