Dorfman, Elsa, 1937-2020

Elsa Dorfman (April 26, 1937 – May 30, 2020) was an American portrait photographer. She worked in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was known for her use of a large-format instant Polaroid camera.

Dorfman was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 26, 1937, and was raised in Roxbury and Newton. She was the eldest of three daughters of Arthur and Elaine (Kovitz). Her father worked at a grocery chain as a produce buyer; her mother was a housewife. Her family was of Jewish descent. She studied at Tufts University, where she majored in French literature. During her junior year, she went on exchange to Europe, where she worked in Brussels for Expo 58 and lived in Paris, living in the same student accommodation as Susan Sontag. Dorfman graduated in 1959 and subsequently moved to New York City, where she was employed as a secretary by Grove Press, a leading Beat publisher. When she returned to Boston, she pursued a master's degree in elementary education at Boston College. After earning her master's degree, Dorfman spent a year teaching fifth grade at a school in Concord.

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