Born 1918, Manhattan, New York
Died 2005

Engel joined the Photo League in 1936. A member of Aaron Siskind's Feature Group, he participated in three projects: Park Avenue North and South (1936–37); Dead End: The Bowery (1936–38); and Harlem Document, an extended photo-documentation of Harlem made by a group of ten photographers (1936–40). His photographs were featured in several group exhibitions and published in U.S. Camera Annual (1941). During World War II and after, Engel served in the navy, in a combat photography unit (1941–46), upon his return to New York in 1946 he again became active in the Photo League, teaching the workshop class and serving as co-chair of a project group focusing on postwar labor issues. After the League disbanded, Engel worked as a freelance photographer and filmmaker. In 1953 Little Fugitive, a film he co-directed with his wife and fellow Photo League member Ruth Orkin, won a Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination. His other films include Lovers and Lollipops (co-directed with Orkin, 1955); Weddings and Babies (1958); The Dog Lover (1962) and I Need a Ride to California (1968).