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Humanities and Social Sciences Library > Collections > Photography Collection > Where Do We Go from Here? Original MembersMost of the members of the Photo League during its first five years were New Yorkers who shared a common belief in the power of photography to change social conditions. The definition of this kind of photography was a recurring topic among League members, who variously referred to “realistic,” “meaningful,” or “sociological” photography. Separate philosophic approaches led to the formation of two major production groups: the Feature Group, led by Aaron Siskind, who believed in “learning by doing” and eventually turned away from documentary to an exploration of expressive form; and the Documentary Group, led by Sid Grossman, who felt that all photographers should have an understanding of photographic history and traditions before they began to develop a personal style. Both positions were fairly avant-garde at the time, considering that the first American scholarly publication on photography, by Beaumont Newhall, was published in 1937. Whatever their individual approaches, all members were in agreement about the transformative power of the medium; as Sol Libsohn stated it, “The camera is itself a form of discipline.” Arnold S. Eagle One third of a nation, 1936 Car passing car viewed from steering wheel, 1950s Penn Station “Inspired by the play ‘… one-third of a nation,’ Mr. Eagle’s [sic] and Mr. [David] Robbins created a series of pictures showing present conditions in the Chelsea and East Side slum districts. The value of this series can further be gauged by the use being made of these photographs to build the movie sets for the film version of ‘… one-third of a nation,’ now in the process of production.” Morris Engel [Canal Street], 1991 “Engel sees his subjects very specifically and intensely. They are not types but people in George Gilbert
Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Woman and boy running in the rain, 1941 Memorial Day marchers, 1942 Sid Grossman Chelsea, from the Documentary Group’s Chelsea Document, 1938 “Today Chelsea is by no means a suburban paradise. The figures say it is closer to an urban hell, its streets thronged with the city’s trucking, the majority of its homes guiltless of plumbing and steam heat, its children robbed of sunlight, air and play space.” Morris Huberland East Side NYC, ca. 1945 “His pictures are deliberate, studied, almost arranged, but warm with understanding.… Sidney Kerner N.Y.C., 1939 Reflections in a hallway, 1995 Sol Libsohn A self-taught photographer who originally earned his living documenting paintings, Libsohn co-founded the Photo League with Sid Grossman. Libsohn was an important teacher at the League as well as a member and leader of numerous production groups. In addition to freelance work for numerous magazines, he also was employed by Roy Stryker for the documentary project of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (later Exxon), the Federal Art Project, and Princeton University, where he taught art and photography to disadvantaged youth in the Summer Program. Libsohn was a personal acquaintance of Romana Javitz, head of The New York Public Library’s Picture Collection from 1929 to 1968, who sought out his work for the Library. Building a tanker, Sunship Building Company, Chester, PA., Standard Oil Company, Havana, Cuba, ca. 1950 Big Bill Broonzy, ca. 1951 [Camel cigarettes billboard], 1950s–60s Ringling Brothers clown, 1954 Shoeshine, 45th Street East, 1963 Surplus Navy arctic windbreakers, Modell’s 42nd St., 1950s–60s Penny arcade, Broadway between 42nd and 43rd Street [Beatles window display], 1964 Playground, Newark, New Jersey, 1964 Richard A. Lyon Kids & guns, ca. 1938 Legs, NYC, 1970s, printed 1983 Jack Manning Readers in the Main Reading Room, New York Public Library, 1941 Readers in the Main Reading Room, New York Public Library, 1941/1995 Walter Rosenblum Tar Beach. Pitt Street, New York, 1938, printed later
“The end of the war will see our art given new impetus by the democratic forces unleashed by a progressive victory. We will be faced with tremendous possibilities that we must even now begin to anticipate. Yep. We have a great deal to look forward to.” Arthur Rothstein Cow hands, Quarter U Ranch, Montana, Farm Security Administration, June 1939 “… in the future our descendants will say when looking at these pictures: ‘those were the faces of our ancestors who overcame their difficulties with heroic determination and forced themselves upward into the sun and into the golden air so that we might live in a world of beauty and justice.’” Edward Schwartz Watchers of a Soap Box Derby, the biggest event on a Sunday in Charleston, W. VA., 1941 Michael and Robert Rosenberg [sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg], 1952 Aaron Siskind Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation 477, 1954 Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation 14, 1954 Lou Stoumen Stone head with melted face found in blast area, Hiroshima, 1982 Yank’s Magic Carpet (Calcutta: Yank, The Army Weekly, 1945) “For the power of the camera is indeed that it can speak visually: that it enables a man to select from the images that cross his retina one incisive moment of visual meaning, to isolate and fix it forever, and through it to commune so intimately with his fellows that they see the world through his eyes!” Weegee Another Sunday morning shot, in Central Park, it was just before winter, squirrels were gathering stuff for cold weather. This fellow slept right on while I snapped him. I was tired from reading all night & wouldn’t have minded joining him. –Weegee, n.d. Sawdust V set afire (V-J Day, 1945) “Many photographers live in a dreamworld of beautiful backgrounds. It wouldn’t hurt them to get a taste of reality to wake them up. Any one who looks for life can find it. And they don’t need to photograph ashcans. The average camera fan reminds me of polyanna [sic], a lolly pop in one hand, and a camera in the other.” Dan Weiner Truman lays the cornerstone of the UN Building, 1949 “With monotonous regularity, certain fashionable names in photography appear in museum shows without, I feel, due consideration to the real value of their work. The emphasis in the contemporary scene is on the magazine photographer, who thru [sic] his connection with a mass medium of communication and limitless possibilities photographically, should be making important contributions.… In the final analysis those photographs that find their way to the museum walls should represent not the momentary shock values necessary to catch the eye in publications, but the enduring qualities inherent in a work of deep conception, honesty, and visual acumen.” Sandra Weiner Boy smoking, 1939 Assassinated, 4-4-68, 1968 |
