What did freedom look like for a woman in the mid-twentieth century? Ruth Orkin, the trailblazing American photographer and filmmaker, found it through travel. By bicycle, train, car, and on foot, she photographed the rapidly changing worlds of New York and postwar Europe with a distinctly cinematic eye. The Spirit of Adventure explores the carefree, spontaneous quality of Orkin’s photography—shaped by curiosity, chance, and a keen instinct for narrative—as both a defining characteristic of her work and a powerful expression of female independence. The exhibition traces Orkin’s formative years from 1939 to 1955, beginning with her bold solo cross-country bicycle trip at age 17, continuing through her dynamic years in New York, and culminating in her travels abroad in the aftermath of World War II. 

The exhibition is divided into three main sections that trace Orkin’s evolving exploration of movement, independence, and modern life. The Bike Trip documents Orkin’s bold solo cross-country journey in 1939, at a time when it was highly unusual for a young woman to travel alone. The photographs she made along the way reveal her fearless spirit, curiosity, and emerging observational eye as she encountered American cities and landscapes. This early act of self-directed exploration laid the foundation for her future work in street and documentary photography through the narrative lens of storytelling.   

The second section features Orkin’s New York City photographs from the late 1930s through the early 1950s, a period of profound social and cultural transformation. Moving through the city with her camera, Orkin captured its vitality, density, and emotional texture. From candid street scenes to intimate, easily overlooked encounters—particularly those centered on women, children, and personal relationships—her photographs reveal nuances of everyday urban life and show how Orkin broadened the possibilities of street and documentary photography. 

The final section follows Orkin overseas in the years following World War II, where she photographs cities and communities undergoing dramatic change. As one of the few young women traveling and photographing internationally at this time, Orkin’s photographs of Europe and Israel extend her exploration of movement, gender, and public life across an increasingly interconnected postwar world. In Florence, these interests culminated in American Girl in Italy (1951), part of Orkin’s series Don’t Be Afraid to Travel Alone, which explored the experiences and freedoms of women traveling independently.  Together, these works reveal Orkin’s enduring commitment to exploration, narrative photography, and human connection, while reflecting her own determination to move freely—and to make space for others to do the same—in the modern world.