Crofford, Ava

Ava Crofford was a photographer in Austin, Texas that was known for her portrait photographs, especially executive portraits of businessmen and photographs of members of organizations. Her job out of high school was a salesperson in a photography studio. Once she learned the business and showed aptitude for photography her father sent her to photographic schools in Kansas and Indiana. She moved to Austin and bought University Studio in 1950. In addition to her photography business, Crofford lectured on photographic techniques throughout the South, published articles in professional photographer magazines and wrote a history of the Texas Photographers Association titled The Diamond Years of Texas Photography .

In 1978 Crofford was invited to speak and exhibit at the Mexico International Photographers meeting on the topic of executive portraits. According to an interview in the Austin American-Statesman, after noticing on a previous trip to Mexico that women were not accepted as equals in professional fields, she decided to create an exhibit of executive women from the Austin area. After the exhibit in Mexico the photographs were displayed in the rotunda of the Texas State Capitol.

From the guide to the Ava Crofford "Portraits of Women" Photograph Collection AR. P. 009., 1978, (Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, )