Lawrence Migdale was born in 1951 in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 1969, he left South Africa to travel in Europe and Israel. While working on a kibbutz in Israel planting cotton, Migdale bought his first camera and began to learn photography.

In 1972 he enrolled at the Polytechnic of Central London to study photography. He graduated in 1976 with a Bachelor’s degree from the Department of Communications. As part of the graduation requirements, Migdale produced an extended document of life behind the scenes of a traveling circus, the Circus Knie, in Switzerland. This series was the basis for one man exhibitions, at Camerawork in London, the Impressions Gallery in York, and a traveling exhibition sponsored by the British Art Council.

Migdale moved to San Francisco in 1976, where he worked for two years in the Audio Visual department of Harcourt, Brace, & Jovanovich, a publisher of educational materials. Since 1982 Migdale has worked as a free lance photographer, specializing in corporate, editorial, and educational assignments with an emphasis on children and children’s issues. In 1990 Migdale began a collaboration with author Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith to photograph and illustrate a series of books for children. They have completed sixteen books, all published by Holiday House in New York.

Lawrence Migdale is the owner of Lawrence Migdale Photography & Stock Photo Library in Orinda, California (www.migdale.com).

The Museum’s collection of 40 images of Circus Knie by Migdale were purchased from the photographer in 1976.

Del Zogg, 11/2000