The Photographs of Paul Strand

May 30, 2005 11:57 AM

Strand's roving gaze "My work grew out of a response, first, to trying to understand the new developments in painting; second, a desire to express certain feelings I had about New York where I lived; third...I wanted to see if I could photograph people without their being aware of the camera."
Three Roads Taken: The Photographs of Paul Strand. more inside.
posted by matteo (5 comments total)

In 1920 artist Charles Sheeler worked with Paul Strand on "Manhatta", a short expressive film about New York City based on portions of Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." The six-minute film spans an imaginary day in the life of New York City, beginning with footage of Staten Island ferry commuters and culminating with the sun setting over the Hudson River. It has been described as the first avant-garde film made in America.

posted by matteo at 11:59 AM on May 30, 2005

The film is particularly beautiful, and strange to watch new yorkers rushing along at their usual pace but at the better part of a hundred years ago.
posted by blindsam at 1:42 PM on May 30, 2005

Thanks for the link to information about this photographer. I had the good fortune to see the works of his collected by the Detroit Institute of Arts. For every 100 FPPs that link to the "latest-greatest" with supersaturated color or manipulated gloss, one superlative stroll with Strand resets my inernal counter.
posted by beelzbubba at 3:41 PM on May 30, 2005

Beautiful post, matteo...gorgeous, the lot of them. I love this one in particular, and some of the ones from Mexico.

Although some of these photos are familiar to me, I really knew nothing about the photographer or his body of work. Great links, grazie!
posted by madamjujujive at 5:22 PM on May 30, 2005

matteo, I have seen some of Strand's work before but for some reason he has never been big on my radar. Thanks for the reminder. His work really resonates with me right now and I want to see more. Great link.
posted by arse_hat at 9:07 PM on May 30, 2005