Hidden Cities: A Photobook

PAUL STRAND
October 16, 1890 – March 31, 1976
BIOGRAPHY
Paul Strand was an American photographer and
filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist
photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward
Weston, helped establish photography as
an art form in the 20th century. In 1936, he
helped found the Photo League, a cooperative
of photographers who banded together
around a range of common social and creative
causes. His diverse body of work, spanning six
decades, covers numerous genres and subjects
throughout the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
Paul Strand was born Nathaniel Paul Stransky on
October 16, 1890, in New York; his Bohemian
parents were merchant Jacob Stransky and
Matilda Stransky (née Arnstein). When Paul was
12, his father gave him a camera as a present.
In his late teens, he was a student of a renowned
documentary photographer Lewis Hine
at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. It
was while on a field trip in this class that
Strand first visited the 291 art gallery
– operated by Stieglitz and Edward
Steichen – where exhibitions of work by
forward-thinking modernist photographers
and painters would move Strand to take
his photographic hobby more seriously.
Stieglitz later promoted Strand’s work in
the 291 gallery itself, in his photography
publication Camera Work, and in his
artwork in the Hieninglatzing studio. Some
of this early work, like the well-known
Wall Street, experimented with formal
abstractions (influencing, among others,
Edward Hopper and his idiosyncratic urban
vision). Other of Strand’s works reflect his
interest in using the camera as a tool for
social reform. When taking portraits, he
would often mount a false brass lens to the
side of his camera while photographing
using a second working lens hidden under
his arm. This meant that Strand’s subjects
likely had no idea he was taking their
picture.It was a move some criticized.
Strand was one of the founders of
the Photo League, an association of
photographers who advocated using their
art to promote social and political causes.
Strand and Elizabeth McCausland were
“particularly active” in the League, with
Strand serving as “something of an elder
statesman.” Both Strand and McCausland
were “clearly left-leaning,” with Strand
“more than just sympathetic to Marxist
ideas.” Strand, McCausland, Ansel Adams,
and Nancy Newhall all contributed to the
League’s publication, Photo News.
In 1948, CBS commissioned Strand to
contribute a photo for an advertisement
captured “It is Now Tomorrow”: Strand’s
photo showed television antennas atop
New York City.
“
Paul Strand was an influential American
photographer and filmmaker known for his
contributions to modern photography and his
documentary-style images.
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.
This quote reflects Strand’s perspective on the
creative process and the artist’s mindset. It
suggests that an artist, including a photographer,
possesses a boundless world of inspiration and
creative possibilities. According to Strand, the
artist’s world is not confined to a specific location
or limited by physical boundaries. Instead, it is an
expansive realm that can be found in any setting,
whether it be far away or right at their doorstep.
Strand’s quote encourages artists, including
photographers, to embrace the idea that
creativity and inspiration can be found anywhere.
Strand married the painter Rebecca
Salsbury on January 21, 1922. He
photographed her frequently, sometimes
in unusually intimate, closely cropped
compositions. After divorcing Salsbury,
Strand married Virginia Stevens in 1935.
They divorced in 1949; he then married
Hazel Kingsbury in 1951 and they
remained married until his death in 1976.
The timing of Strand’s departure to
France is coincident with the first libel
trial of his friend Alger Hiss, with whom
he maintained a correspondence until his
death. Although he was never officially a
member of the Communist Party, many
of Strand’s collaborators were either
Party members (James Aldridge; Cesare
Zavattini) or prominent socialist writers
and activists (Basil Davidson). Many
of his friends were also Communists
or suspected of being so (Member of
Parliament D. N. Pritt; film director Joseph
Losey; Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid;
actor Alex McCrindle). Strand was also closely involved with Frontier Films, one of more than
20 organizations that were identified as “subversive” and “un-American” by the US Attorney
General. When he was asked by an interviewer why he decided to go to France, Strand began
by noting that in America, at the time of his departure, “McCarthyism was becoming rife and
poisoning the minds of an awful lot of people.”
“
It emphasizes
the importance
of being
open to the
beauty and
possibilities
that surround
us, no matter
how mundane
or ordinary
they may
initially seem.
The quote suggests that the artist’s
perception and ability to see and
appreciate the world are crucial in
finding extraordinary moments and
capturing them through their chosen
medium.
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