About Bette Marshall

Currently a resident of South Florida, Bette Marshall has been a photographer with a studio in New York for over 25 years.  Her work has appeared in many international publications including The New York Times, Newsweek, Life, Elle, Vogue, People and Rolling Stone.

Born in Chicago, photography is Bette’s second career. She first pursued acting and has two Broadway shows to her credit.

“When asked why I became a photographer, the short answer is that my husband gave me a camera!  I started making pictures of my children, and soon wanted a camera that could change lenses, shoot faster and capture them in motion. However, I also grew up around images. My Father, Jack Lieb, had been a newsreel cameraman with Hearst Movietone News (The Eyes and Ears of the World) before he became an industrial and TV commercial filmmaker. His newsreels ranged from Lindberg’s takeoff to the D Day invasion. My older brother, Warren was also a filmmaker and photographer, and my son Robert, a documentary filmmaker and playwright.  Photography and theater seem to run in the family!”

Bette’s interest in Chess combined with photography of her children and their friends led her to co-author and take pictures for a book, Chess For Children, Step by Step, Little, Brown and Company. This award-winning book was featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Children’s Shop for several years. In addition, the German edition, published by Bertelsmann was nominated for the Children’s Book Prize of the Republic of Germany.

 Bette’s new book, Young Whitney: Stories and Photographs, was published in February, 2022.