Todd Webb was born in Detroit in 1905. He was a friend of Alfred Stieglitz, O'Keeffe's husband, and he studied photography under Ansel Adams. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy and later worked with Roy Stryker and the Standard Oil Company, traveling and photographing throughout Europe. From 1955 to 1969, Todd Webb worked for the United Nations. In 1955 and 1956, he was awarded Guggenheim Fellowships, and in 1979, he was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Photography Fellowship.