James Abbe was an American photographer and photojournalist. He is best known for his portraits of celebrities, politicians, and actors and actresses of the New York stage and Hollywood. Abbe was born in Vermont and began his career as a young photojournalist traveling extensively throughout Europe during the power struggles of the early 20th century. Around this time he began to photograph actors and actresses in a candid manner, outside of the studio. This was an unusual technique for the time and thus drew attention to his photographs which he sold to Vogue and Vanity Fair, further promoting his name.