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The smiles were sincere, the laughter real as were the looks of love: these are family portraits that would now seem typical except for those in them – Kennedys, Fords, Lauders and Pulitzers – and that the black-and-white images were, in fact, revolutionary.

For decades, Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Kuhner photographed high society that included royalty, business titans and the political elite at their various properties in places like Greenwich, Connecticut, and their favorite playgrounds, like Palm Beach, Florida. Her innovation was to take the staid, posed portrait shot inside and move it outdoors, letting light, nature, and authenticity shine.

A new book, ‘Betty Kuhner: The American Family Portrait,’ demonstrates why she became, as co-author Steven Stolman put it, the ‘family photographer of record’ for the upper crust: Bobby Kennedy playing in the pool with his kids, Ted Kennedy’s son tugging on his shirt, the Fords of the car company vying for a ball on a beach, and Lilly Pulitzer, a fashion designer who is still known today for her prints, with her family leaning, sitting and standing on a massive tree trunk.

‘I’ve wanted to do this book for 15 years,’ Kate Kuhner, her daughter and the book’s other co-author, told DailyMail.com. ‘I’ve always known that she was a groundbreaker. She’s one who paved the way for all of this very casual-looking photography.’

Kuhner, who died in 2014 at aged 98, picked up a camera after her husband, Russell, a professional photographer, encouraged her.

Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Kuhner came from humble beginnings, her daughter Kate told DailyMail.com, but she ended up the ‘family photographer of record’ for the upper crust, according to a new book, ‘Betty Kuhner: The American Family Portrait.' In around 1960, Kuhner and her husband, Russell, a professional photographer who encouraged her to pick up a camera, moved to Palm Beach. While Kate doesn’t know why her parents went down to Florida, she is sure that it started her mother’s career. Above, Robert F. Kennedy with his children in McLean, Virginia in 1964

Kate Kuhner told DailyMail.com: ‘She photographed Lilly (Pulitzer) first. She must have had some entrée and I’m not sure who it was - probably somebody who lived in Greenwich and seasoned down here. It was such a success and Palm Beach was such a small society back then that once Lilly adored her and showed her pictures, everybody in town wanted to have mom photograph them - for all the years to come too.' Above, Lilly Pulitzer, left, a socialite and fashion designer that is still known today for her prints, with her sister, Flossie Doubleday, center, with their children in Palm Beach, Florida in 1963

Kuhner changed the way family portraits were taken. Her innovation was to take the staid, posed portrait shot inside and move it outdoors, letting light, nature, and authenticity shine. Her daughter, Kate, said that she searched for a spot to take photos and often shot the portraits on the family's property - but also at the beach and near water. Above, William Clay Ford Sr and his family in Grosse Pointe, Michigan in 1967. William Clay Ford Sr was the grandson of Henry Ford, who founded the Ford Motor Company

Russell Kuhner was known for his portraits of stars, like Buddy Ebsen of 'The Beverly Hillbillies,' taken while they were at the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut, Kate recalled. Her mother would make suggestions to her father while he shot until he finally urged Kuhner to take photos herself.

‘It turned out to be a godsend,’ Kate said.

Her mother struck out on her own first in Greenwich, Kate explained, because she felt it was sufficiently far away from their home in Westport: ‘She did not want to fall flat on her face in his territory.’

In around 1960, they moved to Palm Beach, but while Kate doesn’t know why her parents went down to Florida, she is sure that it started her mother’s career.

‘She photographed Lilly (Pulitzer) first. She must have had some entrée and I’m not sure who it was - probably somebody who lived in Greenwich and seasoned down here. It was such a success and Palm Beach was such a small society back then that once Lilly adored her and showed her pictures, everybody in town wanted to have mom photograph them - for all the years to come too.

‘All her clients became her friends. They all ended up at our house for dinner parties. It was just a whole different time back then when that could happen - not so probably today.’

Kuhner had a way to put people at ease – regardless who she was photographing.

‘She effortlessly got people to do things that they probably wouldn’t have normally done – especially in front of the camera. They were so willing and I think they had so much fun doing it that they looked totally natural, you know, that it brought out their own family sense,’ Kate said.

‘She was a very casual and fun-loving and cozy. Cozy is the word that comes to mind whenever I talk about my mom. She’s that kind of person so her photographs would naturally follow that. Florida is such a beautiful place to be outside with the fauna and flora, as they say.’

In the book, Betty said that her business grew by word of mouth.

For instance, Kate said she thinks that the brother of Ethel Kennedy - the wife of Robert F. Kennedy - probably was the one who introduced Kuhner’s work to the political clan. Kuhner took photos of George Skakel in Greenwich, and then Ethel Kennedy asked her to photograph her family.

‘All the other Kennedys eventually got on board. The only ones she did not photograph were Jack and Jackie,’ Kate said, adding that her mom did take photos of Caroline and John F. Kennedy Jr when they visited their uncle Bobby.

‘They are a very tight family so it was very easy to capture their sense of love and play and adventure and just that camaraderie between all of them.’

Betty Kuhner's business grew by word of a mouth, according to a new book, ‘Betty Kuhner: The American Family Portrait.' Kate told DailyMail.com she thinks that the brother of Ethel Kennedy - the wife of Robert F. Kennedy - probably was the one who introduced Kuhner’s work to the political clan. Kuhner took photos of George Skakel in Greenwich, and then Ethel Kennedy asked her to photograph her family. ‘All the other Kennedys eventually got onboard. The only ones she did not photograph were Jack and Jackie,’ Kate said. Above, Ted Kennedy with his son Edward Jr in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts in 1970

Kuhner had a way to put people at ease – regardless who she was photographing. ‘She effortlessly got people to do things that they probably wouldn’t have normally done – especially in front of the camera. They were so willing and I think they had so much fun doing it that they looked totally natural, you know, that it brought out their own family sense,’ Kate, her daughter, told Daily Mail.com. Above, Estee Lauder, right, who founded her namesake company focused on skincare, makeup and more that still thrives today, with her husband, two sons and their wives, and her grandchildren in Palm Beach, Florida in 1973

Kuhner snapped shots mostly at people’s properties, although sometimes at the beach as well. Kate recalled going with her mom to search for locations for the portrait. She said Kuhner was always able to find four or five places that ‘lent themselves with the branches coming in and the light filtering through.’ She ‘didn’t just bring them out the front door and, bang, start working. Picking the spots was integral to the photos,’ Kate told DailyMail.com, noting that her mother loved ‘getting families up in trees,’ which was one of her trademarks. Above, Ted Kennedy with his children in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts in 1977

The lifelong relationships that Betty Kuhner built have continued through Kate, who has photographed the second, and in some cases, third generations of the same family. Lilly Pulitzer and Kuhner were friends since they met in around 1960 until Pulitzer’s death in 2013 at aged 81. Kate called Pulitzer a ‘Palm Beach treasure,’ and the socialite and fashion designer’s iconic prints are still sold today. Lilly’s daughter, Liza Pulitzer Calhoun, wrote the foreword for new book, ‘Betty Kuhner: The American Family Portrait.’ Above, Lilly Pulitzer and her children Minnie, Peter, and Liza in Palm Beach, Florida in 1960

Kate, who followed in her mom’s footsteps and is also a photographer, explained that composition and light were important to Kuhner.

‘Even though they were relating and touching each other or reaching out, laughing, whatever, there was still a beautiful composition going on made by the bodies together, the tilt of their heads, the background was very important too,’ she said.

Kuhner snapped shots mostly at people’s properties, although sometimes at the beach as well. Kate recalled going with her mom to search for locations for the portrait. She said Kuhner was always able to find four or five places that ‘lent themselves with the branches coming in and the light filtering through.’

She ‘didn’t just bring them out the front door and, bang, start working. Picking the spots was integral to the photos,’ Kate explained, noting that her mother loved ‘getting families up in trees,’ which was one of her trademarks.

The lifelong relationships that Kuhner built have continued through Kate, who has photographed the second, and in some cases, third generations of the same family. Lilly Pulitzer and Kuhner were friends since they met in around 1960 until Pulitzer’s death in 2013 at aged 81. Kate called Pulitzer a ‘Palm Beach treasure,’ and the socialite and fashion designer’s iconic prints are still sold today.

Lilly’s daughter, Liza Pulitzer Calhoun, wrote in the her foreword for the book: ‘With her trusty Hasselblad strapped around her neck, and her enormous glasses perched on the end of her nose, off we would go, around our garden, looking for the perfect shot that she had in mind. And as she was looking down into the lens of that black box, she never stopped laughing and talking. She was part of our family, and if Mom had her way, she would have been in the photo with us.’

When Steven Stolman, the chairman of the Palm Beach Historical Society, curated an exhibition on Kuhner’s work in 2003, Kate said: ‘It was the first time I ever gathered her work to really present.’

When she ran into Stolman recently, she asked him if he would consider working on a book with her. In three weeks, she said, they were working with his publisher, Gibbs Smith. They decided to focus on the families that are well-known and that had started businesses that have endured, and then organized them alphabetically in the book.

‘I went through my files and I pulled out the Armours and the Doubledays and the Donnelleys,’ Kate said.

‘I’m so glad we finally got it done or else I would sitting here for the next five years wishing I could do this book,’ she said, then laughed.  

Kate said that she thinks her mom would be proud of the book.

Betty Kuhner once said: ‘I always tried to capture a family’s love for each other.’

Betty Kuhner took many family portraits and photos of the Kennedys. Ethel Kennedy, top right, probably heard about Kuhner from her brother, George Skakel. Kuhner took photos of his family in Greenwich, Connecticut, her daughter Kate told DailyMail.com. She ended up taking photos of family except for John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy. Above, Robert F. Kennedy and his family in McLean, Virginia in 1964

Kate, who followed in her mom’s footsteps and is also a photographer, explained that composition and light were important to Kuhner. ‘Even though they were relating and touching each other or reaching out, laughing, whatever, there was still a beautiful composition going on made by the bodies together, the tilt of their heads, the background was very important too,’ she said. Above, Joan and Ted Kennedy with their children Edward Jr and Kara in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts in 1965

Betty Kuhner had a knack for putting people at ease when she photographed them. Her daughter, Kate, who is also a photographer, described her mom as very casual and fun-loving, saying, 'Cozy is the word that comes to mind whenever I talk about my mom. She’s that kind of person so her photographs would naturally follow that.' Above, Walter B. Ford III with daughters Wendy, Bridget, and Lindsey in Grosse Pointe, Michigan in 1970

‘I always tried to capture a family’s love for each other,’ Betty Kuhner once said about her work, chronicled in a new book called ‘Betty Kuhner: The American Family Portrait,’ published by Gibbs Smith. The book's cover is seen above. Her daughter, Kate, told DailyMail.com she wanted to do this book for 15 years. Her co-author Steven Stolman had once curated an exhibition of Kuhner's photographs, and Kate asked if he would work on a book with her. Kate said that she thinks her mom would be proud of it