David Plowden

Who is David Plowden?

David Plowden, is an American photographer known for his historical documentary photography of urban cities, steam trains, American farmlands, and small towns.

Plowden graduated from Yale College in 1955. After working for the Great Northern Railway in 1959, Plowden studied under Minor White and Nathan Lyons, and was an assistant to O. Winston Link and George Meluso. He has held various teaching positions at Illinois Institute of Technology – Institute of Design, University of Iowa - School of Journalism, University of Baltimore, and Grand Valley State University. Plowden was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1968.

David Plowden's work is currently included in the permanent collection of many art museums, including the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress. In 1995, David Plowden agreed to transfer the entire archive of his notes, negatives and prints to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University at the end of his career.

David Plowden has produced 20 books, including his recent Requiem for Steam: The Railroad Photographs of David Plowden, published in 2010 by W.W. Norton. He lives in Winnetka, Illinois.