Ted Croner was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, where his interest in photography began. After joining the army during World War II, he worked as an aerial photographer with the United States Army Air Corps stationed in the South Pacific. After the war, Croner moved to New York, where his carreer began to take flight and he had his first exhibition. After his debut, he continued to accept commercial work at magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue along with his own photography, producing vigorously experimental, cinematic images of cafeterias, solitary diners, and the city after dark. In 1948 The Museum of Modern Art held two exhibitions of his work, "In and Out of Focus" and "Four Photographers."