So let's admire 10 Paul Strand photos (Italy)

<p>(Click on the enlargement)</p>

<p>http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2016/mar/16/parmesan-and-politics-paul-strands-photographic-genius-in-pictures</p>

<p>And here are some further Paul Strand photos for your perusal - plus two quotes:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.icp.org/icpmedia/s/t/r/a/strand_paul_407_1985_423179_fullscreen.jpg">Iris and Stump, Orgeval (Fr) - 1973</a></p>

<p><a href="https://alainsevestre.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/paul-strand-young-boy-gondeville-charente-1951.jpg">Young boy, Gondeville (Fr), 1951</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.theartblog.org/wp-content/uploaded/2014/11/paul-strand_00405846.jpg">Blind woman, New York, 1916</a></p>

<p><a href="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8489/8286895648_68b2ac3548_b.jpg">Iris, 1928</a></p>

<p><a href="https://janflieger.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/alfred-stieglitz-new-york-1919-by-paul-strand.jpg?w=814">Alfred Stieglitz, 1919</a></p>

<p><a href="https://artblart.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/image-2-web.jpg">White Fence 1916</a></p>

<p>Quotes from Paul Strand:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>“It has always been my belief that the true artist, like the true scientist, is a researcher using materials and techniques to dig into the truth and meaning of the world in which he himself lives; and what he creates, or better perhaps, brings back, are the objective results of his explorations. The measure of his talent--of his genius, if you will--is the richness he finds in such a life's voyage of discovery and the effectiveness with which he is able to embody it through his chosen medium.”</p>

</blockquote>

<blockquote>

<p>“The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep.”</p>

</blockquote>

<p>.</p>

<p>Your portfolio is very nice. I see a lot of Paul Strand inspiration in your work.</p>

<p>Anders, I'm grateful that you have exposed me to Strand and his work. (Sorry for the cheap pun.) Having looked at the collection of images along with the individual ones you provided, it appears that Strand was just as comfortable photographing flora as he was photographing people and their relationships with the world. The image I found most compelling was "Blind Woman." The sign around the woman's neck screams how badly she must have been treated. It's a photographic analogue of the proverbial scarlet letter.</p>

<p>Michael, with regard to the photo of the blind woman, a big part of how it works and why it's so effective to me is that it seems like the woman is looking at something off to the side. With many portraits, you get the subject looking right at the camera and, often, the subject may as well be blind for not appearing to be really looking at anything. Here, you have a blind woman, labeled blind by the sign around her neck, looking anything but blind. Interestingly, this is one of the photos Strand took as a part of a series promoting social reform where he used a fake lens on the side of his camera so it appeared to his subjects he was not taking their picture, which he felt allowed him the kind of candor he wanted. Of course, that wouldn't matter here, but it's that knowledge that gives some irony to the shot. To what extent is it unsettling to see this woman "documented", unknowingly, at least partially as a labeled and badged woman (the badge indicating she had a peddler's number)? And what role does that irony play that he is hiding the fact that he is taking her picture even though she's blind? This is a very confrontational photo, for me, exuding and causing a lot of discomfort, part of which is social and personal and part of which is coming through the use of photography itself and Strand's overall approach. It accomplishes a lot and serves as personal and social commentary as well as being revealing about photography itself.</p>

<p>The reference to the "Blind" opens a wide range of openings into the work of Paul Strand for social reform. It should be mentioned at at the time he shot the "Blind" he was considered (by Stieglitz mainly) as taking up the tradition of Lewis Hine, sociologist and photographer who is most known for his iconic shot of a mechanic in a Chaplin type of scene, this one :<a href="http://media1.fdncms.com/rochester/imager/lewis-hines-iconic-photograph-powerhous/u/zoom/2419156/art1-1.jpg"> powerhouse</a>, but who took series of shot of poverty stricken people in New York and especially children: like<a href="https://artblart.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/hine_lewis_belgrade-detail.jpg"> this</a>,<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/b7/c0/50/b7c050c7f2f4dadb337fa0161802743c.jpg"> this</a>, <a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8e/9b/cb/8e9bcb99eb702c070462544c564e197a.jpg">this</a>, or <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h3/h3_1970.727.1.jpg">this</a>.</p>

<p>Comparing these to Paul Strand's work in the same city, which had been kid named by Picabia and Duchamp as the "cubist city". Paul Strand composed many of his photos, like the "Blind" with cubist elements (the label and batch, Fred mentioned) but also the structures of the wall behind. Same attention in Strands photos for cubist structuring of the composition is most prominent in the "White Fence" photo I introduced above or in Wall Street shown in the link with the big square windows of the Morgan Bank.</p>

<p>I recall past discussions about taking photos of homeless people. Some photographers take such shots because of their genuine interest to raise public awareness about the plight of the numerous homeless folks in our midst. Yet others take them because it has become <em>de rigueur</em> to do so. In this light, it is interesting, Fred, that Strand may not have disclosed to the blind woman that he was taking a photograph of her.</p>

<p>Michael, in the case of Strand he had a genuine interest in using his photographical skills for "reform" in order to better the wellbeing of the poor and homeless. Most of his photos were published in Camera Work (Stieglitz).<br>

Whether he actually told the blind woman that he had taken a photo of her, I actually don't know. His camera was indeed concealed, as Fred mentioned, but that does not prevent him from communicating with her after the shot.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Some photographers take such shots because of their genuine interest to raise public awareness about the plight of the numerous homeless folks in our midst. Yet others take them because it has become <em>de rigueur</em> to do so.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>And a third way is exploitive, taking pictures of homeless people as a quick and thoughtless immediate determination of pathos and pseudo-emotion or pseudo-caring. Strand seems to me to have what you call "a genuine interest to raise public awareness." He does it thoughtfully and artfully.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>In this light, it is interesting, Fred, that Strand may not have disclosed to the blind woman that he was taking a photograph of her.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I'm not getting your point here. Can you elaborate? Why is it interesting to you in light of the different ways homeless people can be photographed?</p>

 

<p>Anders and Fred: I have no doubt that Strand's photograph not only had inherent power as a tool of social protest; to me, it also reflects his desire to bring about social change.</p>

<p>Fred: I probably had the "third way" in mind when I made the comment you quoted, although I didn't make that clear previously.</p>

<p>Anders and Fred: I have no doubt that Strand's photograph not only had inherent power as a tool of social protest; to me, it also reflects his desire to bring about social change.</p>

<p>Fred: I probably had the "third way" in mind when I made the comment you quoted, although I didn't make that clear previously.</p>

<p>The pix which Anders references are indeed among Strand's best known images. PS was an early influence on me, I have had a book of his pictures of Egypt, together with a very pro-Nasser text, for a very long time. I remember also being impressed by his pix of the Scottish islands. I understand PS made his main living as a motion picture cameraman, thus gaining the artistic freedom to do his still photography his way.<br>

I cannot find confirmation on the web, but I seem to recall a story of an incident where a friend of PS heard of an art director needing a pic of the New York skyline and recommended PS, reasoning that he could use the $50 fee and could nail the shot in minutes by simply going up to the roof of his own apartment building. On visiting with PS a week later, the friend found that PS had exposed a dozen or more negatives during this time and was not satisfied with any one of them. </p>

<p>This was the story I mentioned:<br>

http://www.philpankov.com/-/philpankov/article.asp?ID=2204</p>

<p>Thanks David. Tells all the good reasons why to admire not only Strands (and Hine's) photos, but also the man (men) behind.</p>