Ruth Bernhard (October 14, 1905 – December 18, 2006) was an American photographer.

By the late-1920s, while living in Manhattan, Bernhard was heavily involved in the lesbian sub-culture of the artistic community, becoming friends with photographer Bernice Abbott and her lover, critic Elizabeth McCausland. She wrote about her “bisexual escapdes” in her memoir. In 1934 Bernhard began photographing women in the nude. It would be this art form for which she would eventually become best known.

Bernhard was hailed by Ansel Adams as “the greatest photographer of the nude”. Read full wikipedia article.