Rose Hartman (born May 16, 1937) is an American photographer, author, and cultural documentarian whose lens has defined the glamour and social energy of New York for more than five decades. Based in New York City, Hartman is renowned for her intimate, unscripted portraits of the celebrities, creatives, and fashion figures who shaped the style and cultural landscape of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

She traces the beginning of her photography career to a 1976 assignment for The Daily News Record, photographing an elaborate Hemingway family wedding in Sun Valley, Idaho. Soon after, Hartman became a fixture in New York’s most rarefied circles, gaining unparalleled access to fashion shows, nightclubs, private parties, and red carpets at a moment when glamour reigned supreme.

Hartman is best known for her iconic photograph of Bianca Jagger riding a white horse through Studio 54 at her 30th birthday celebration; an image widely regarded as one of the most enduring symbols of the era. As writer Lloyd Grove described it, the photograph captures “the iconic image of a long-lost age.” Other celebrated works include candid moments of Jerry Hall in conversation with Andy Warhol, as well as portraits of supermodels, designers, artists, and cultural power players who defined their time.

A true pioneer, Hartman was the first photographer to move behind the curtain of Fashion Week catwalks, capturing models and designers backstage with an intimacy that transformed fashion photography. This groundbreaking access became the foundation of her first book, Birds of Paradise: An Intimate View of the New York Fashion World (1980), now considered a seminal record of the industry.

Her photographs have been widely published in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Elle, Art+Auction, Allure, and Stern, among others. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in the collections of major institutions including The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Experience Music Project. A major retrospective of her work was presented at the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2011–12. Todd Merrill Studio is pleased to represent Hartman’s work and to exhibit her photographs in Todd Merrill Studio Presents: Glamour in New York, Photographs by Rose Hartman on view at Bergdorf Goodman during New York Fashion Week, February 2026.

In 2016, Hartman was the subject of the feature-length documentary The Incomparable Rose Hartman, directed by Otis Mass, which received a Jury Special Mention at DOC NYC. She is also the author of Incomparable: Women of Style (2012) and Incomparable Couples (2015), further cementing her role as both witness to and author of modern style history.

Through decades of work, Rose Hartman has captured more than fashion or celebrity, she has preserved the glamour, confidence, and creative electricity of New York itself, creating a visual archive of a city at its most magnetic.