Nathan Edwin Farb

Renowned photographer and multimedia artist Nathan Farb (January 18, 1941-March 26, 2026) was a larger than life character. His iconic 8 x10 view camera work of the Adirondack region where he grew up has been published in 3 books by Rizzoli. His intimate knowledge of the Adirondacks led him deep into the woods to photograph rarely visited vistas or to set up his large 8 x10 camera in a river to get the image he sought. On long drives by his home in the Adirondacks he claimed to know every tree and point out those he had particular affection for.

Nathan cut his teeth photographing 1960s Lower Eastside in New York City. In 1977 he was part of an international cultural exchange that brought him to the USSR. In Novosibirsk, Siberia where he photographed local visitors to the American exhibit. The work became the book, The Russians, which was published first in Germany and then in the United States, France, Italy, and Holland. Four decades later a filmmaker brought Nathan back to Novosibirsk to re-photograph many of the same people for the documentary, Nathan Farb and the Cold War.

His photographs are included in the collections of MoMA (NY), J. Paul Getty Museum, The National Gallery of Art, The Biblioteque National (Paris) and the International Center of Photography among many others. His work has been excerpted by close to 100 magazines including The NY Times Magazine. NY Times Magazine then sent him to document the Exxon oil spill and the Yellowstone Fires, and to the Galapagos Islands twice which resulted in another Rizzoli book, The Galapagos.

Nathan was born in Kowona, Oklahoma. Curious and fiercely independent, Nathan had friends around the world from childhood pals in the Adirondacks to people he met in Siberia, Rwanda or walking down the street.

Nathan was bodacious in going for the images he wanted to photograph, using a Life magazine luggage tag as a 'press pass' to gain access to events or getting thrown off the stage at a Janis Joplin concert. Nathan always leapt at the chance to explore emerging technologies. In 1971 his political multimedia work (in collaboration with Judith Treesberg) "Lockport" was shown at The Public Theater to critical acclaim and a cult following. He was an early adopter of the original Sony Portapak. More recently he was exploring large scale multimedia pieces about the transcendental connection between the natural world and our spiritual existence.

Nathan is survived by his daughters Esme Pearl Farb and Ruth Sergel and his life partner Kathleen Carroll.

A private service was held in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains to honor Nathan's life. A celebration of life will be held this summer, where family and friends will gather for live music, good food, and plenty of stories-just as Nathan would have wanted.

Services were entrusted to Heidrick-Zaumetzer Funeral Home, PO Box 127, 3 College St., Au Sable Forks, NY 12912.

____________________________________________

LINKS

Nathan's website:

https://www.nathanfarb.com/navigate

https://archive.nytimes.com/lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/1967s-other-summer-of-love/

https://archive.nytimes.com/lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/12/07/those-soviets-theyre-not-so-different-from-us/

https://kinobrigada.net/nathan-farb-and-the-cold-war