Eve Arnold was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She began photographing in 1946 and then studied photography in 1948 at the New School for Social Research in New York. Arnold first became associated with Magnum Photos in 1951 and became a full member in 1957. Her first major solo exhibition was at the Brooklyn Museum in 1980. In the same year, she received the National Book Award for In China and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Magazine Photographers. In 1995, she was made fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and elected Master Photographer – the world’s most prestigious photographic honour – by New York’s International Center of Photography. In 1996, she received the Kraszna-Krausz Book Award for In Retrospect. The following year she was granted honorary degrees by the University of St Andrews, Staffordshire University, and the American International University in London; she was also appointed to the advisory committee of the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in Bradford, UK. She has had twelve books published.