Nathan Lyons: In Pursuit of Magic

Abstract

Nathan Lyons was born in Queens, New York, in 1930, and became interested in photography in his teens after his family moved to Manhattan. In 1948, he enrolled in a two-year business administration program at the New York Agricultural and Technical Institute in Alfred, New York (now Alfred State College of Technology). He left Alfred to enroll in the United States Army, and served in the Korean War from 1950 to 1954 as a photographer. He returned to Alfred in 1955, where he majored in English and also studied photography and visual books under John Wood [Image 1]. IMAGE 1. Untitled (New York City) (2013) by Nathan Lyons; © Estate of Nathan Lyons. In 1957 Lyons joined the staff of the George Eastman House (now George Eastman Museum) in Rochester, New York, as the director of public information and editorial assistant. After two years, he was promoted to assistant director and editor of publications, and eventually became associate director and curator of photography in 1965. Lyons left the Eastman House in 1969, the year he founded the Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) in Rochester, a graduate program and artist space dedicated to artist books, photography, and the moving image. In addition to being an artist and educator, he was instrumental in the creation of many important arts and educational organizations, including the Society for Photographic Education and the New York …