The New Topographics Movement: Capturing the Man-Altered Landscape
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a group of photographers emerged with a distinct vision. They aimed their lenses not at the picturesque, natural landscapes that had dominated the photography world for decades, but at the often overlooked and sometimes starkly unattractive transformation of the American landscape by human activities. This movement, known as the New Topographics, represented a significant shift in the way we view the world around us. It focused on the "man-altered landscape," revealing the intersection of humanity and nature in a unique and thought-provoking way.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a group of photographers emerged with a distinct vision. They aimed their lenses not at the picturesque, natural landscapes that had dominated the photography world for decades, but at the often overlooked and sometimes starkly unattractive transformation of the American landscape by human activities. This movement, known as the New Topographics, represented a significant shift in the way we view the world around us. It focused on the "man-altered landscape," revealing the intersection of humanity and nature in a unique and thought-provoking way.
The movement had its origins in an influential exhibition titled "New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape," curated by William Jenkins in 1975 at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. The show featured the work of ten contemporary photographers; Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Joe Deal, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon, John Schott, Stephen Shore, and Henry Wessel. The term "New Topographics" was coined to describe the focus of these photographers on capturing the transformation of the American landscape, particularly in the American West.
Robert Adams, Newly occupied tract houses Colorado Springs, 1968
Common Themes and Concepts of New Topographics
Objectivity and the Urban Landscape:
“New Topographic” photographers abandoned the romanticism and idealism traditionally associated with landscape photography. Instead, they adopted a more objective and detached approach to capture the contemporary urban and suburban environment. Their photographs depicted the built environment, suburban sprawl, industrial structures, and the mundane aspects of daily life, that were taking place in the American landscape of the post- War 2, with a sense of objectivity and an almost scientific detachment.
Minimalism and Formalism:
“The New Topographic” photographers embraced a minimalistic and formalistic aesthetic, often employing straightforward compositions, stark geometries, and a focus on the inherent qualities of the subject matter. Their images emphasized the formal aspects of photography, such as sharp focus, lighting, and clarity, which contrasted with the romanticized and subjective styles of the past.
Critique of Consumer Culture:
This movement also served as a critical response to consumer culture and the environmental consequences of unchecked urban development. The photographs of parking lots, industrial buildings, and suburban housing tracts highlighted the erosion of natural landscapes and the encroachment of man-made structures. By doing so, they encouraged viewers to reflect on the impact of consumerism and industrialization on the environment.
Lewis Baltz, The new Industrial Parks near Irvine California, 1974
Prominent Photographers
The New Topographic Movement introduced a group of influential photographers who played an important role in redefining the genre of landscape photography. Here are a few notable figures:
Lewis Baltz: Baltz captured the essence of the movement, especially in his series "New Industrial Parks Near Irvine, California. He photographed eerily sterile landscapes with meticulous attention to composition and detail.
Lewis Baltz, The new Industrial Parks near Irvine California, 1974
Lewis Baltz, The new Industrial Parks near Irvine California, 1974
Robert Adams: Adams' work often focused on the urban and suburban expansion in Colorado. His series "The New West" depicted scenes that challenged the notion of the American dream in the post-war era. Adams' images were characterized by their crisp compositions and a deep sense of stillness, provoking viewers to contemplate the evolving relationship between humans and nature.
Robert Adams, Pikes Peak Park Colorado Springs, 1969
Robert Adams, Colorado Springs, 1974
Bernd and Hilla Becher were a German couple known for their typological approach to photography. They meticulously documented industrial structures like water towers, gas tanks, etc, arranging their images in grids that showcased the subtle variations among these seemingly identical objects. Their work was instrumental in shaping the movement’s formalistic and analytical approach, emphasizing the impact of industry and infrastructure on the landscape.
Stephen Shore: Shore's iconic series "Uncommon Places" explored the everyday beauty of American landscapes, capturing the ordinary in extraordinary ways. He documented parking lots, street scenes, motels, celebrating the ordinary and inviting viewers to reevaluate their surroundings. His use of color photography was a departure from the predominantly black and white imagery associated with the movement.
Stephen Shore, Church and 2nd Streets Easton Pennsylvania, 1974
Stephen Shore, Beverly Boulevard and La Brea Avenue Los-Angeles California, 1975
Stephen Shore, Pine Street Seattle, 1974
Influence and Legacy
The New Topographics Movement represented a paradigm shift in the world of photography and had a profound influence on contemporary art. It forced viewers to reconsider their perceptions of the environment, the impact of human activity on the landscape, and the aesthetics of the ordinary. This movement's influence can be seen in the work of many contemporary photographers and artists who continue to explore the relationship between humanity and the environment.
Reevaluation of the Photographic Subject:
The movement forced a reevaluation of what could be considered a legitimate subject for photography. It shifted the focus away from the picturesque and towards the overlooked and mundane aspects of our everyday surroundings. This broadened the possibilities for photographic subject matter and inspired photographers to explore the man-altered landscape in novel ways.
Influence on Contemporary Photography:
The New Topographics movement laid the foundation for contemporary landscape and urban photography. It influenced photographers who continue to explore the complex relationship between humans and the environment, often using a similarly detached and analytical approach.
Environmental Awareness:
The movement also played a significant role in raising awareness about environmental issues and the consequences of human actions on the landscape. By capturing the often dispassionate and stark transformation of nature into human-designed spaces, New Topographics photographers encouraged viewers to consider the implications of such alterations.
Women in Photography
In the context of the Photography Exhibition launched at Tatì Space with the theme "The City of Women", we are bringing to attention some inspiring figures of female photographers, who have made a valuable contribution in the field of photography, with their professionalism and humanism, photographing the contemporary urban life. Julia Margaret Cameron, Frances Benjamin Johnston, Berenice Abbott, Dorothea Lange, Margaret Bourke-White, Vivian Maier, Diane Arbus, Cindy Sherman dhe Annie Leibovitz.
In the context of the Photography Exhibition launched at Tatì Space with the theme "The City of Women", we are bringing to attention some inspiring figures of female photographers, who have made a valuable contribution in the field of photography, with their professionalism and humanism, photographing the contemporary urban life. Starting with Julia Margaret Cameron, as one of the pioneers of photography, Frances Benjamin Johnston as the first woman photoreporter, Berenice Abbott who photographed the emerging modernity, Dorothea Lange and Margaret Bourke-White as the first photoreporter of major historical events , continuing into the modern city with Vivian Maier, Diane Arbus, and to the present time with Cindy Sherman and Annie Leibovitz. The list is longer, but we have chosen these figures as representative of different eras of photography.
Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879)
She is a 19-th century British photographer who started photography late in her life, at the age of 48, when her daughter gave her a camera for her birthday. She is known for portraits of well-known personalities of her time, and for photographing heroic, mythological and from literature subjects, where she uses as characters the relatives who came at her studio. She is known for photographing children and women, as well as for defocusing and close-ups of portraits, which had an impact on modern photography.
Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952)
She is one of the first female photojreporters in America. She has been an advocate for the role of women in photography, writing "What a Woman Can Do with a Camera" in 1897, and co-curator of a photographic exhibit at the 1900 World's Fair. Frances is known for portraiture, photography of traditional architecture, and for the series at the Hampton Institute. In 1899 she was asked to photograph the daily lives of students at the Hampton Institute, which after the Civil War offered vocational courses to African American and Native American youth. Since she used platinum plate negatives, which required a few seconds of exposure, it was impossible to spontaneously photograph the young students. In this way, she directed the subjects into carefully composed scenes that speak of Benjamin's unique style, recognizable to this day.
Berenice Abbott (ShBA 1898-1991)
Berenice Abbott is an American photographer known for documenting the architecture and metropolitan life of New York with all its contrasts in the ’30s of the Great Depression. Berenice Abbott is known for her documentary style, outside of any subjectivism and pictorialism. She photographed with an 8x10 inch camera the new architecture of New York that was emerging, but also the places that were disappearing from development. Her main influence was the French photographer Eugene Atget, who scrupulously photographed old Paris, which was disappearing from the modernity of the early 20th century. Abbott called Atget ‘the Balzac of the camera’ and an ‘urban historian’. She is credited with rescuing Atget's archive when, after his death, she bought all the negatives and took them to America, where she worked to publish his work. In the last years of her career Berenice Abbott was involved in the technical and scientific aspects of photography.
One of her expressions is "The world doesn't like independent women, I don't know why, but I don’t care"
Dorothea Lange (1895-1965)
She is an American photographer who realistically documented the difficult life of Americans during the Great Depression of the 1930s. With her humanitarian photography, she influenced the allocation of federal funds for the poor, but also the development of the genre of documentary photography. One of her iconic photographs is "Migrant Mother" where she photographed a poor family in the conditions of existence. Lange had the ability to photograph the beauty and the dignity of people. One of her expressions is "The Camera is a Tool to Learn How to Look..." She used the camera as a democratic instrument. Although Lange had a physical difficulty in movement, due to a childhood illness, she is known as a fighting woman, at a time when this quality was not accepted for women. She traveled extensively, photographing the underrepresented lower classes of the population; farmers, workers, Jewesh, blacks, the poor, immigrants of various nationalities, thus offering a democratic vision of America at a time when the country needed it most.
Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971)
She is the first American war photographer and one of the most important photoreporters in America in the 1930s and 1940s. Her first photographs are those of industrial buildings, machineries, people, but then she focused her attention on social issues, in areas of extreme poverty during the Depression, where she photographed for Fortune and later for Life Magazine. Bourke-White was the first foreign photographer allowed to photograph in the Soviet Union during the 1930s, making her one of the most famous photographers in America. She was allowed by the Military Corps to photograph the Second World War, during which she photographed the most important events such as the bombing of Moscow by German troops in 1941, war crimes, concentration camps after the Nazi capitulation. After the second world war, she documented the most important historical events, such as Gandhi's efforts for the independence of India, the Korean War, the riots in South Africa, etc.
Vivian Maier (1926-2009)
Vivian Maier has one of the most interesting stories in the history of photography. She photographed urban street life of America in the 50s, 60s, with strong intensity, curiosity and a sense of humor, but she never published her photos. She was a rather reserved person, although educated and cultured, she took pictures as a hobby while performing her duties as a nanny. As the children she raised later put it, they never understood what Maier was photographing. When they asked her, she answered with a smile that she was a spy. While Maier walked the children to every corner of the city, she took interesting photos, which today constitute a visual legacy of that time. Her photography became famous after her death, thanks to the art collector, John Maloof, who in 2009 bought the 150,000 negatives she shot during her lifetime and made them known to the public through the publication of books, exhibitions and documentaries .
Diane Arbus (1923-1971)
She is an American photographer known for her controversial style, criticized and appreciated at the same time. She photographed New Yorkers in the 1950s and 1960s, people in the park, children, women, disable people, those living on the fringes of society, circus performers, transgender people, those who, as one art critic says, ' they attract our attention when we see them on the street, but we instinctively look away because we are ashamed of what we see'. But Arbus, on the contrary, observes, studies and photographs them psychologically, as no other photographer had done before. While the street photographers of her generation like; Evans, Winogrand, Lewitt, etc., followed a guerilla style, photographing people without distinguishing, Diane instead seeks the approval of the people she photographs. Often times she returns to a subject twice, takes notes, chats, makes friendship, visit their home, and waits for the right moment to take the picture. For this reason her subjects look straight into the camera, being aware of the presence of the artist, and including the viewer as well. With her style, she left her mark on modern photography followed by many photographers. While Arbus' photography is related to identity, voyeurism, different people, in a homophobic society of the '50s-'60s,she was not always liked by the public and critics of the time. In a quote (Norman Mailer) says 'giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like giving a child a hand grenade'. During the 'New Documents' exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1967, where Arbus was featured alongside Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander, her photograph was spat on by several visitors, so much so that it had to be cleaned up every day. While Susan Sontag, one of the most popular critics of the time, says that Diane Arbus lacks compassion for her subjects. Many have speculated about Diane's motives for taking photographs in this way. But her letters, which became known after her death in 1971, show the opposite. She found emotions, and saw herself reflected in people that look differently. Diane Arbus came from the rich and bourgeois class of New York society. She had attended the best schools in the country with high results. However, she ignored her class origins. She seems to search for this sense of belonging and isolation from the subjects he photographs. She learned photography through Fashion Photography, in the studio she opened with her husband. In 1956, at the age of 33, she broke away from it, following the vocation of documentary photography, which she developed with her own personal style. One of her expressions is: 'For me, the subject of the photograph is always more important than the picture itself; 'Abnormal people are born with their trauma. They have passed the test of life. They are aristocrats'; "My favorite activity is going to places I've never been."
Cindy Sherman (1954)
She is an American artist who uses photography to create several series of self-portraits related to the stereotypes of women in Western culture, created by cinematography, television, advertising. The first series with which she became famous is "Film Stills" or "Film Scene" in the 70s-80s, where she appears dressed as movie characters, in similar scenes from the European cinematography of the 50s- '60 and the American noir genre. In these photographs, she appears sometimes as a housewife, sometimes as a secretary, sometimes as a provocative woman, other times as a career and independent woman. In the black and white photographs of the series, she builds a catalog of characters, or an encyclopedia of stereotypes of women in the cinematography and advertising of the time. Although Sherman's "film scenes" resemble movie publicity stills (from which the cycle takes its name), none of them refer to a specific film. Sherman's mastery is that she plays with stereotypes of women, and with our expectations which is influenced by these stereotypes. In later years, Cindy Sherman will develop other photographic series related to the stereotypes of beauty in Western culture, and those coming from art history, developing even more the lighting, costume design and make-up.
Annie Leibovitz (1949)
Annie Leibovitz is a famous photographer of our time, photographing celebrities for “Rrolling Stone” and “Vanity Fair”, but few of us know that she started her carier with documentary photography in black and white. She keeps this perspective in photographing the construction of “New York Times” building, designed by Renzo Piano, when in 2005 and 2006 she was commissioned by the developer Forest City Ratner Companies to document the construction of the tower, which concluded in the series “Building the Times”. Known for her beautiful portraits, Annie Leibovitz takes into accoun the human factor, when she photographes the workers that asseble by hand this megastructure. For this series she says “The most fascinating aspect of this project has been learning that buildings are still put together essentially by hand. Watching the construction workers glide across steel beams and hoisting heavy girders into place has been amazing”
Saul Leiter
Saul Leiter was an American painter and photographer known for his photographs of New York City in the late 1940s through the ’60s, and is considered a pioneer of color street photography. Leiter found quiet moments within the urban chaos and portrayed them pictorially. His work has connections to American Abstract Expressionism and the New York School of Photography. His photographs are distinguished by painterly colors, abstract compositions, minimalism, intimacy, and voyeurism…
Saul Leiter
(USA 1923- 2013)
Saul Leiter, Self-Portrait 1950, credit © Saul Leiter Foundation
Saul Leiter was an American painter and photographer known for his photographs of New York City in the late 1940s through the ’60s, and is considered a pioneer of color street photography. Leiter found quiet moments within the urban chaos and portrayed them pictorially. His work has connections to American Abstract Expressionism and the New York School of Photography. His photographs are distinguished by painterly colors, abstract compositions, minimalism, intimacy, and voyeurism, which stands out from the work of his contemporaries like Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, and William Klein. “I take photographs in my neighborhood. I think mysterious things happen in familiar places.”
Saul Leiter, Taxi 1957, credit © Saul Leiter Foundation
Among Leiter’s favorite subjects are passers-by, or their reflections, photographed from shop windows along with umbrellas, snowy days, taxis, signs, and street advertisements, forming abstract compositions in overlapping layers of focus and out of focus. “I happen to believe in the beauty of simple things. I believe that the most uninteresting thing can be very interesting.” In the documentary movie dedicated to Leiter, by Tomas Leach, entitled In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter, at the age of 88 the photographer says, "I may be old-fashioned. But I believe there is such a thing as a search for beauty - a delight in the nice things in the world. And I don’t think one should have to apologize for it.”
Saul Leiter, Red Curtain 1956, credit © Saul Leiter Foundation
One of Leiter's contributions is that he brought a new aesthetic to street photography, using color film in the early '50s, long before it was appreciated in the art scene of the ’70s. For a long time, color was not considered in fine art photography, because the film was expensive and unpredictable in printing. This led many artists to use black and white film, creating the conviction that color film was less artistic. However, Leiter photographed for a long time in color, often using expired Kodachrome film, which gave the photographs a particular hue. For this reason, he is considered a pioneer of color photography. Leiter developed his visual grammar, turning ordinary everyday moments into beautiful abstract images. "I admired a tremendous number of photographers, but for some reason I arrived at a point of view of my own."
Saul Leiter, Snow 1970, credit © Saul Leiter Foundation
Saul Leiter, Postmen 1952, credit © Saul Leiter Foundation
Saul Leiter refused to explain his work. "I don’t have a philosophy, I have a camera." But in return he left us a lot of beautiful expressions that show the nature of an unconventional artist. In an interview he states: “We live in a world full of expectations, and if you have the courage, you ignore the expectations. And you can look forward to trouble.” And Leiter's nature had been unconventional since in his youth, when at the age of 22 he abandoned his theological studies and against his family's wishes he moved to New York from his native Pittsburgh to become a painter. There he found affinity with Abstract Expressionism. After contacts with expressionist painter Richard Pousette-Dart and photographer W. Eugene Smith, he began to take photographs to earn money. The first photos are in black and white of friends and urban scenes. In the 1950s, curator Edward Steichen presented Leiter photographs at the Museum of Modern Art: in 1953, in the exhibition Always the Young Strangers, and in the 1957 slide lecture Experimental Photography in Color. Leiter worked as a fashion photographer for Harper's Bazaar, Elle, British Vogue, and other magazines, where he developed a style similar to his street photography.
Saul Leiter, Mary circa 1947, credit © Saul Leiter Foundation
Saul Leiter, Harper's Bazaar circa 1960, credit © Saul Leiter Foundation
Saul Leiter, Reflection 1958, credit © Saul Leiter Foundation
In the 1980s, Leiter faced financial difficulties and was forced to close his commercial studio. For two decades he worked in silence, painting and photographing in his East Village neighborhood. “I spent a great deal of my life being ignored. I was always very happy that way. Being ignored is a great privilege. That is how I think I learned to see what others do not see and to react to situations differently. I simply looked at the world, not really prepared for anything.”
Saul Leiter, Harlem 1960, credit © Saul Leiter Foundation
Saul Leiter, Mirrors circa 1958, credit © Saul Leiter Foundation
Leiter’s street photography gained attention 50 years after he created many of his works, with the publication of his first book, Early Color, in 2006, followed by the two-volume set Early Black and White in 2014 and the nudes collection In My Room in 2018, along with a series of exhibitions.
The studio of Saul Leiter in New York's East Village, where he worked and lived from 1952 until the end of his life in 2013, has now become home to the Saul Leiter Foundation, which aims to preserve and promote the art and legacy of the photographer. The archive includes thousands of prints, slides, negatives, and paintings, many of which have not yet become known to the public..
Editorial note: We thank the Saul Leiter Foundation for the images provided and assistance in selecting the information: https://www.saulleiterfoundation.org
Selected Books of Saul Leiter:
Sources for Saul Leiter quotations:
Documentary movie from Tomas Leach, In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter:
Interviews:
Saul Leiter in Conversation with Vince Aletti, May 2013
Part 1 - Lecture by Saul Leiter: New York Reflections
Part 2 - Lecture by Saul Leiter: New York Reflections
Part 3 - Lecture by Saul Leiter: New York Reflections
Part 4 - Lecture by Saul Leiter: New York Reflections
podcast from 2006 interview with Mitch Teich on WUWM’s Lake Effect radio show
Julius Shulman, the Photographer of Modernism
Julius Shulman is one of the most famous photographers of mid-20th century architecture in America. He has defined the way we look at Modernism. Shulman photographed the new architecture that was emerging after World War II in South California, especially the metropolitan area of Los Angeles.
Julius Shulman Portrait, by Ebby Hawerlander, 1950
Julius Shulman
(USA 1910-2009)
Julius Shulman is one of the most famous photographers of mid-20th century architecture in America. He has defined the way we look at Modernism. Shulman photographed the new architecture that was emerging after World War II in South California, especially the metropolitan area of Los Angeles. He began his journey as an architectural photographer after meeting Richard Neutra in 1936, to whom he donated some prints from the house the architect had designed for Josef Kuhn in the Hollywood Hills. This meeting signs the beginning of a long collaboration with Richard Neutra, who recommended Shulman to other architects who were developing the International Style of Modernism in America, such as; Rudolph Schindler, Gregory Ain, John Lautner, Pierre Koenig, Raphael Soriano, and others.
Shulman is known for his strong graphic style, which highlights the features of the building, strong perspectives and light-shadow contrasts. He believed in the idealization and glorification of architecture; he often shot in infrared film to increase the drama of the scene, used artificial lighting to better illuminate the interiors, placed furniture and objects in such positions as to create pleasing compositions, and used models to make the house livable. In an interview Julius Shulman states "the photographer's responsibility is to identify the design components of the structure, to identify with the architect the purpose of the structure and of its design".
Shulman not only photographed architecture, he synthesized the essence of an era. His photographs were published in all architecture magazines and influenced the way modern architecture was perceived. His photography promoted the work of architects and made it visible to people who could not physically see it. As Richard Neutra, who had a 34-year collaboration with the photographer, said: “Film is stronger, and good glossy prints are easier to ship than brute concrete, stainless steel or even ideas”.
Some of Shulman's most important photographs are those of ‘Case Study Houses’; an initiative of Art and Architecture Magazine in 1945, initiated by John Entenza with the aim of creating a modernist, low-cost housing model for the construction industry. During its 25 years of existence, the Case Study Houses Program included the contributions of several renowned architects, including Eero Saarinen, Craig Ellwood, Charles and Ray Eames. 36 prototypes of apartments were designed, of which 24 were realized. Among them Shulman photographed 18 homes. One of his most famous photographs is the Case Study House # 22, known as Stahl Residence of architect Pierre Koenig, in which two women talk to each other in the cantilevered space of the villa, in the illuminated background of Los Angeles. The photo is one of the most published photographs of architecture, “one of those singular images that sum up an entire city at a moment in time” as architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote in the New York Times.
Julius Shulman continued to photograph until the last years of his life, such as Frank Gehri's Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. In 2004 the Getty Research Institute bought the archive of 260,000 negatives, prints and transparencies, becoming the main owner of his photographs.
© Julius Shulman, Kuhn House, Richard Neutra architecture, 1936
© Julius Shulman, Miller House, Richard Neutra architecture, 1937
© Julius Shulman, Loewy House, Clark and Frey architecture, 1937
© Julius Shulman, Kaufmann House, Richard Neutra architecture, 1947
© Julius Shulman, Kaufmann House Palm Springs, Richard Neutra architecture, 1947
© Julius Shulman, Wurdeman and Becket, Pan Pacific Theatre LosAngeles California, 1942
© Julius Shulman, Mobile Gas Station
© Julius Shulman, Lovell Health House, Richard Neutra architecture, 1950
© Julius Shulman, Congress Building and Ministries, Oscar Neimeyer architecture, Brasilia, 1958
© Julius Shulman, Convair Astronautics, Pereira and Luckman, 1958
© Julius Shulman, University of California Irvine
© Julius Shulman, Fire Station, LosAngeles
© Julius Shulman, Theme Building LAX int
© Julius Shulman, Lovell Chuey House, Richard Neutra architecture, 1958
© Julius Shulman, Stahl House, Case Study House 22, Pierre Koenig architecture, 1960
© Julius Shulman, Stahl House, California, Pierre Koenig architecture, 1960
© Julius Shulman, Bass House, 1960
© Julius Shulman, Eames House Case Study House 8, Ray and Charles Eames architecture, 1958
© Julius Shulman, Alexander House, Palmer and Krisel, 1957
© Julius Shulman, Frey House, Albert Frey architect, 1954
© Julius Shulman, Dome House, Bernard Judge, 1962
© Julius Shulman, Coachella Valley Savings, Williams and Williams architects, 1963
© Julius Shulman, State Capitol Bank Oklahoma.
© Julius Shulman, Guggenheim Museum, Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.
© Julius Shulman, Salk Institute for Biologocal Studies, Luis Kahn architect, 1966
© Julius Shulman, Seagram Building, Mies Van Der Rohe and Philip Johnson architect, 1959
© Julius Shulman, Children’s Museum, Abraham Zabludovsky architecture, 2005
© Julius Shulman, La Estadia Development, Ricardo Legorreta architect, 1981
© Julius Shulman, Glass House, Philip-Johnson, 2006
© Julius Shulman, Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Shulman was the subject of a 2008 documentary film, ‘Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman’. The film, directed by Eric Bricker and narrated by Dustin Hoffman, explores Shulman's life and work. It discusses how Shulman's images helped to shape the careers of influential 20th-century architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra and John Lautner.The film and the related materials ate found in the website:
Selected books by Julius Shulman
Nick St.Oegger
Nick St.Oegger is a documentary photographer whose work explores the relationship between people and places. A quiet American, as he calls himself in his social media, he has been working in Western Balkans since 2013. In Albania, he has a large body of work about a very sensitive issue: the construction of hydropower projects in the rivers of the region known as the “Blue Heart of Europe”, and the impact they have on the rich biodiversity and the unique culture of inhabitants. Here we present the interview that Nick St.Oegger has given to TatìSpace.
Nick St.Oegger is a documentary photographer whose work explores the relationship between people and places. A quiet American, as he calls himself in his social media, he has been working in Western Balkans since 2013. In Albania, he has a large body of work about a very sensitive issue: the construction of hydropower projects in the rivers of the region known as the “Blue Heart of Europe”, and the impact they have on the rich biodiversity and the unique culture of inhabitants.
He has been working for different clients including: Patagonia, Vice, Reuters, Le Monde, Libération, Polityka, De Standaard, Nieuwe Revu, Huck Magazine, Caritas Albania, The Calvert Journal, Suitcase Magazine, Point.51, Trip Advisor, Kosovo 2.0, Riverwatch, C41 Magazine, and Culture Trip. He has exhibited his work and published a book on Vjosa River. From one year now, he lives in Albania. I am very happy that he accepted to give an interview to TatiSpace and share his work with our readers. Below is the interview.
TatìSpace: Hello Mr.Nick! First of all, thank you very much for accepting the invitation to be interviewed and sharing your work with us. Can you please tell us more about yourself? Do you consider yourself a travel or a reporter/ documentary photographer? How do you define your photography? How did the idea or interest to photograph in Albania come to you?
Nick St.Oegger:I grew up in California, but have been living and working around Europe for about 8 years now, mostly here in the Balkans, but also in Ireland and the UK. When I was growing up, I thought I would become a lawyer and this was how I prepared my education and what I was trying to focus on. However, the last year at university I had a bit of a crisis where I realized this wasn’t what I wanted to do. I was interested in photography, but it had always been just a hobby, I hadn’t thought about it as a career option until I discovered the work of some photojournalists who worked in the Balkans in the 1990s, in Bosnia, Kosovo and here in Albania. I was very moved by this work, and the idea of using images to tell a story, to raise awareness about different issues facing individuals and communities. So this is how I started out in this field, this was the moment I knew with every bone in my body that I wanted to be a visual storyteller. I do consider myself a documentary photographer, I am always trying to communicate a story or shed light on a particular issue, and for me photographs are the way that I do this, though writing is also important to my work.
I first came to Albania in 2013, on my first trip to the Balkans. I didn’t know anything about Albania before, and I was mainly interested in seeing the countries of former Yugoslavia. I saw Albania on the map and asked some people about it, everyone had very negative responses like “Oh you shouldn’t go there because it’s run by the mafia” or “It’s dangerous, you’ll get kidnapped” or “Why would you go to Albania? There’s nothing to see!”
I thought about these things as I was planning my trip, and I intended to avoid Albania. I arrived in Istanbul, made my way to Athens where I booked a flight to Venice and I would spend some time afterwards on the coast of Croatia. But the morning I was meant to leave Greece, I woke up and the very first thought which came to me was “Go to Albania.” It’s hard to explain, it was like some sort of vision, or fate. So I missed my flight, instead, I got on the next bus I could find to Albania and the rest is history. It was really a life changing decision, that first trip to Albania: I met amazing people, I saw how beautiful and unique this country is but how little the outside world knows or thinks about it. So it was that trip that I decided to focus my attention on Albania and the Balkans, because it’s a region that many people simply don’t understand, even in Europe.
TatìSpace: Here in Albania, you have a large body of work that includes a vast geographical area (from North to South), and a variety of themes (from bunkers to rivers to the Albanian Alps). From these, I can identify two main projects that are very sensitive to the Albanian public interest: “The Lament of the Mountains” and “Kuçedra”. What started out the idea to work on these projects? Was it commissioned or was it a personal project?
Nick St.Oegger: Yes, both these projects are long-term personal projects that I started on my own and then received further support for. Both of these projects started in a rather organic way. When I first came to Albania, I remember taking the bus from Gjirokastër to Tirana, and passing the Vjosa at Tepelenë. I remember the colour of the water; it was like nothing I had seen before. Several years later I was reading a magazine back in the US and I came across a short article about the Vjosa, how it was one of the last free flowing rivers in Europe, but that the government was planning to build dams on it. I realized this was the river I had seen on my first trip, and I felt a strong desire to return, to document the river, the landscapes, the people along its course. Again, it was this sense of fate, I think. In working on the project I now feel this very strong connection to the Vjosa, and whenever I return it feels like visiting an old friend.
Similarly, “Lament of the Mountains” was produced several years later, after I met an anthropologist who was working in the Kelmend region and she told me about the situation of the rivers there; that they are also building these small hydropower dams. She told me about the culture in the valley, how people are still so connected to the land, how they move with their sheep to the high pastures in the summer. I felt like this was another story I had to tell, because for me the mountains are such an important part of Albania, as well as this very strong rural culture and connection to the land.
TatìSpace: In both projects there is an interconnection between the general view (environmental, political, economical) and the personal view (the impact that the projects have on people’s lives). This gives them an intricate beauty. You skip from landscape photography of large panoramas to close up portraits of mountaineers and peasants living near Vjosa. Have you found difficulty approaching this kind of photography? Can you share an episode that impressed you in particular, for example meeting with villagers or authorities? Also, did you have any problems or incidents with groups or individuals that supported the dam projects?
Nick St.Oegger:Yes, that’s right, and I think it is precisely this interconnection that is so unique and important in Albania. Outside Tirana, there are still many places in the country that are very rural, where people are still living rather traditional lives, working with the land. Yes, there are negatives that come from this life, such as poverty and other problems, but I think the way that many people still live with the land in Albania is unique, and people take pride in this work, they feel a strong connection to their land and the history behind it. So for me, especially with these two projects, it is very important to show the people in context of the land, to show that it is not just one or the other that is being threatened, it is both, because of the strong interconnection between environment and people in Albania. And this connection is exactly what is being threatened by so many proposals, whether it’s by the government, or foreign investors.
It can be difficult to approach this kind of photography. I spend a lot of time trying to work in small communities, to gain people’s trust, which is hard to do in Albania. I think there is a lot of mistrust, because of the history with communism, but also the recent history. People are used to foreign journalists coming, they take some photos for a few days, and then they leave. I have always tried to build stronger relationships with my subjects, to try to get to know them as humans first. I always try to return when I can, to give them prints of some of the photos I took of them. Another important aspect for me has been learning the Albanian language, which is difficult, but it has opened up so many doors. I think because the language is so important to people here, they trust me more when they see I am trying to speak to them in their own language.
Probably one of the most impressive experiences was when I stayed with the shepherds in Kelmend during the summer. We migrated with a herd of 200 sheep, I walked 40km with them to their shelter near Lepushë. It was beautiful to spend time with them there, to see the way they care for the sheep and their families, to see the way the children help with everything and how much knowledge they have about the environment, the weather, how they take care of themselves and fix things. Before this, the ‘malësorë’ were a bit of a mystery to me. I only heard some stories and stereotypes, so it was an amazing experience to see the reality of their lives and I was very honored that they gave me their trust and allowed me to stay with them and photograph.
TatiSpace: Your “Kucedra” project has been exhibited and published in a book. Can you tell us something more about it? How do you find this aspect of photography, when projects communicate to the public? Did the project have an impact?
Nick St.Oegger:That’s right, I published “Kuçedra” as a book first in 2018 and I have exhibited the work several times as well. For me it was very important that these photos go into the world in a physical way, not just on people’s screens. Publishing the book allowed me to raise awareness about the Vjosa, and the issues related to hydropower development on an international scale. I was lucky to partner with Patagonia and Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign, so the book was distributed around the world, including to members of the European Parliament who have been trying to convince the Albanian government to save Vjosa.
Exhibiting the work has also been important, especially the exhibitions in Greece and Albania. For the Greeks it was a chance for them to see something of Albania, which is so close yet so far (a place many of them wouldn’t consider visiting). I had several people look at the photos and tell me “You know, these places could also be here. We are not so different” and this was very nice to hear, given some of the historical conflicts and tensions that exist between Greece and Albania.
It was so important for me to exhibit this work in Albania as well, so that everyday people can see the beauty of their own country in a way that they might not have previously done. It was really a nice experience to speak with people at the exhibition and to see that they have some connection to my work, to see how it makes them consider their country in a different way. That was very important to me, because I want my work to speak to Albanians. I don’t want it to be just for foreigners to see this “exotic” location. I hope that my work also connects with regular Albanians as well.
TatìSpace: Can you share something more about your next projects or exhibitions (if you prefer)?
Nick St.Oegger: I am planning to start writing another book about these last 8 years working in Albania. It will be a mixture of photos and personal stories from my time in the country. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for some time. I also will have some more work related to hydropower, documenting areas where rivers have been destroyed by dams. So in a way I am still continuing with this work that I started years ago with “Kuçedra”, and it’s good to continue following this issue with hydropower and the effects it has on communities and the environment in Albania.
I hope to also continue with exhibitions, which unfortunately hasn’t been possible during the pandemic, but maybe as the situation improves it would be great to show more of my work both in Albania and abroad.
TatìSpace: Thank you very much for the interview and hope to see more of your work about Albania.
An overview to the main projects of Nick St.Oegger in Albania, “Kuçedra”and “The Lament of the Mountains”. More can be found in his website: www.stoeggerphotography.com
In “Kucedra” series, Nick St.Oegger explores thelast wild river of Europe: Vjosa (in Albania), and the proposed hydropower projects along its route that will alter the flow of the river, harming the rich and unique biodiversity within it and displacing thousands of people due to the creation of reservoirs. A key source of life for numerous endangered plant and animal species – many of which have disappeared from the rest of Europe’s rivers –Vjosa also holds cultural and economic significance for the rural communities along its banks, which once played an important role in Albania’s agricultural industry. Through landscapes, portraits and interior details, he portrays the environment of Vjosa in its natural state, as it faces the threat of being changed forever.
The Vjosa river near the Greek-Albanian border. Despite willingness to declare the river a national park in 2015, the Albanian government issued a contract to build a new hydropower dam at Poçem. The European Parliament has demanded the government to stop the plans for hydropower on the Vjosa, noting the environment damage it would cause. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Interior Bënça. Locals in the village have protested a hydropower that will divert water from nearby Bënça tributary, which feeds into Vjosa. The loss of water from this river could have severe negative consequences for the agriculture. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Ronja, a retired teacher in Kuta. Like many in the village, she does not hold title documents for her land, due to the administrative chaos that followed the fall of communism in the 1990s. This would complicate any attempts to claim compensation for land lost in the creation of the Poçem reservoir. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Përmet, a cultural hub in southern Albania, well-regarded for its traditional music, art and slow-food practices. The Vjosa is integral to plans for growing the areas’s tourism industry, with the river seen as an important draw for rafting and kayaking excursions. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Bridge over the Vjosa at Novosele, near the delta. Dams would increase riverbank erosion in downstream areas, meaning the already flood-prone delta region could see increasingly destructive flooding events in the future.
Abandoned petrol station on the road to Kuta. The road that links Kuta to the national highway is of poor quality, and has made shipping agricultural products impractical. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Romina Mustafaraj, government representative for the village of Kuta. Romina has campaigned for infrastructure improvements in the village, including maintenance of flood-prevention systems, and repairs to the main road linking the village to the national highway. However, no investment has been made by the central government. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Kuta, Village in Mallakaster county. During communism, Kuta was an important farming village, and went through significant development in the first decades of the regime. However, the area has been in decline since the end of communism in the 1990s. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Mercedes in the village of Kuta, near the proposed Poçem dam. Around 3,000 people living in Kuta and the surrounding area could be affected if their land is flooded by a reservoir. This would mean the end of the area’s agricultural production, the only industry most have known. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Farm in Kuta, near the proposed dam at Poçem. The reservoir created by the dam would permanently flood agricultural land in the area. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
“Without our land we have nothing”. Ylli and her family raise sheep and grow crops on land that would be flooded by a reservoir. There are few non-agricultural jobs in Kuta, meaning locals could have to relocate from lands their families have lived and worked on for generations. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Fisherman’s shelter constructed between two communist-era bunkers in the Vjosa delta. Fishing along the river plays an important part in the local economy, and has already been negatively impacted by unregulated practices, such as dynamiting. Furthermore, damming the Vjosa would be detrimental for species such as the endangered European eel, which migrates along the river to spawn. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Scientists traveling on the Vjosa near Poçem. Because Albania was isolated by the communist rule of Enver Hoxha, much of the river and its environment remain unexplored. An international team of scientists and NGOs has been compiling data on biodiversity and the river’s morphology, to use as part of a case for preserving the Vjosa. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Dam construction site near Kalivaç. The project began in 2007 as a collaboration between Deutsche Bank and Italian businessman, Francesco Becchetti, but was stalled for several-years after charges of fraud and money-laundering were brought against Becchetti. He has denied these charges. The Albanian government nulled the contract and a new one was awarded to Turkish Ayen energy, who also hold the contract for the Poçem dam. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Fields between Kalivaç and Kuta, which would be lost to flooding for the reservoir created by the Poçem dam. Electricity generation could come to a standstill within 30 years due to sediment built-up in the reservoir. This would require expensive and invasive dredging equipment to be brought into the area in order to clean debris. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
In “The Lament of the Mountains” photography series, Nick St.Oegger looks at ‘malësorët’of Kelmendi, a true pastoralist shepherd culture, and one of the last in Europe, whose economy is threatened by a dozen of dams planned to be constructed along alpine rivers. As government receives subsidies and loans from Western banks to solve the energy crisis with the construction of small scale hydropower plants, there is no public consultation for evaluating how it will affect the rich biodiversity and the lifestyle of highland shepherds. In Italy, Austria and Greece, UNESCO has recognized for protection the practice of pastoral shepherds, but there is no such status in Albania, which make their existence even more difficult.
Koprisht, Kelmend Region, Albania. Historically one of the most isolated regions in the country, most of Albania’s Northern mountains were never fully conquered during the Ottoman Empire’s 500year reign. The highland ‘malësorët’people have fiercely defended the region for centuries, operating under a strong system of tribal alliances. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Gazmend Bikaj collects brush from the surrounding forests to construct a roof over a livestock enclosure in Koprisht, Kelmend region, Albania. Gazmend is a shepherd from Kalsa, a hamlet some 30km away, where he lives with his family most of the year. During the summer months they migrate to an encampment in the high pastures of Koprisht, taking a flock of sheep that belong to a farmer from the lowlands. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
During the summer, shepherds live in the high mountains in a temporary shelter called a ‘stan’. The structures are basic with an exposed dirt floor, stove and loft area for sleeping. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Fonsi Bikaj moves a herd of sheep along the road from Tamarë to Koprisht, 35km away. Earlier in the day his father Gazmend had taken the sheep from their owner in the lowlands outside the city of Shkoder and walked with them into Kelmend. This process of transhumance has been practiced in the mountains for hundreds of years and risks dying out due to a decreasing population as well as threats from climate change and hydropower development. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
The site of a small scale hydropower plant in between the villages of Tamarë and Selcë, Kelmendi region, Albania. Small scale hydropower dams involve construction of several kilometers of pipeline that would divert the river underground, potentially drying out large sections of it and affecting the delicate biodiversity in the area. There are also concerns about the effect this would have on the local endangered trout population, which migrate along the river. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
A completed section of pipeline for a small scale hydropower plant near the village of Selcë, Kelmend region, Northern Albania. River water will be diverted into these pipelines to generate electricity at a power station downstream. Locals worry about the effects this will have on their access to water, which is critical for agriculture and raising livestock. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Cousins Gjyste and Age Murçaj, in the village of Vukël, Kelmendi region, Albania. Emigration from the region has left a mainly ageing population, who often rely on family members living abroad for financial support. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Anjeza Bikaj shakes out a tablecloth near the family’s summer encampment, Kelmendi region, Albania. Anjeza and her siblings take turns helping with household chores, milking the sheep and taking them into the surrounding mountains to graze. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Albana Bikaj shares a moment of laughter with her sister Anjeza as the two make homemade playing cards at the family’s summer shelter in Koprisht, Kelmend region, Albania. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Wilson Bikaj, one of Gazmend’s sons, help round up sheep in an enclosure in Koprisht, Kelmend region, Albania. The entire Bikaj family takes part in the process of caring for and grazing the sheep during the summer months. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Rest near a café on the banks of the Cemi river, near Kozhnje. The region has seen an exodus of young people in recent years, with some 60% of the population of Kelmend emigrating, many to the United States. Job opportunities are limited and poverty levels remain high in the region, which has seen little development since the fall of the communist regime. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
High pastures above the treeline near Lepushë, where several shepherds have their summer encampments. Historically the Albanian Alps have also been known as Bjeshkët e Nëmuna (the Accursed Mountains), owing to their isolation and difficult terrain. This has left the area largely untouched until recent plans to construct hydropower dams on several of the region’s rivers. Copyright © Nick St.Oegger
Walker Evans
Walker Evans is the American photographer who has influenced more than any other the modern documentary photography of the 20th century. With his anti-conformist nature, he rejected the prevailing pictorialist view of artistic photography, supported by the main proponent Alfred Stieglitz, and constructed a new artistic strategy based on the description of common facts in a detailed and poetic manner. Evans has been described as the photographer with the sensibility of a poet and the precision of a surgeon…
Walker Evans
(USA 1903-1975)
Walker Evans, selfportrait 1930
Walker Evans is the American photographer who has influenced more than any other the modern documentary photography of the 20th century. With his anti-conformist nature, he rejected the prevailing pictorialist view of artistic photography, supported by the main proponent Alfred Stieglitz, and constructed a new artistic strategy based on the description of common facts in a detailed and poetic manner. Evans has been described as the photographer with the sensibility of a poet and the precision of a surgeon… Following independently his artistic strategy, he built a body of work based on the description of American everyday life. His preferred subjects are the vernacular architecture, street scenes, advertising, billboards, shop windows, passers-by, automobile culture, and most important the description of American poor conditions during Great Depression. Evans is the first photographer that the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) New York dedicated a personal photography exhibition in 1938. He was an independent and authoritative figure in photography. For two decades he worked as an editor and writer for Time and Fortune magazines, where he designed the layout and the accompanied words of his photography. In the end of his career he taught photography at Yale University. His photography has influenced a generation of photographers, such as Robert Frank, Le Friedlander, Garry Winogrand, Diane Arbus, the Bechers, and other genres of art, such as: cinematography, theater, and literature.
© Walker Evans, Truck and Sign New York, 1930
The first years
Walker Evans began photographing at the age of 25, with his Kodak handheld camera, during his stay in Paris, where he was studying French literature at the Sorbonne University. Evans aspired to become a writer, but upon his return to New York in 1928, he exchanged the writer's dream for the profession of the photographer. The first photographs are scenes of everyday American life and urban environments: New York streets, Victorian buildings, Brooklyn Bridge, abstract compositions of emerging new architecture, street advertisements, and storefronts. Repeating motifs in his photography are: letters, signs, numbers in billboards and road advertisements. He documented the city through the eyes of a historian and anthropologist, finding what was authentic and American in character. The main influences in his photography were: Eugene Atget and August Sander; while the favourite writer: Gustave Flaubert, from whom he adopted the saying: "An artist must be in his work like God in Creation, he should be everywhere felt, but nowhere seen”.
© Walker Evans, Brooklyn Bridge New York, 1929
© Walker Evans, U.S. Rubber Sign, New-York, 1928-1929
© Walker Evans, Movie Poster, New York, 1930
© Walker Evans, Parked Car, Small Town Main Street, 1932
© Walker Evans, Street Scene with Telephone Pole and Lines, Provincetown Massachusetts, 1931
© Walker Evans, Chrysler Building, 1930
© Walker Evans, Construction Shack, New York, 1929
Havana
In the early 1930s, Evans was sent to Cuba to photograph the worker’s conditions during the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado. Here he photographed the slums, the street beggars, the police, the port workers, developing the human side of his latter photography. The photographs were published in 1933 in the book “Crimes of Cuba”.During his stay, Evans accompanied Ernest Hemingway, to whom he left 46 photographic prints for fear of being confiscated by the Cuban authorities. These prints were found in Havana in 2002, and were presented in a photographic exhibition.
© Walker Evans, Cinema Havana, 1933
© Walker Evans, Havana Dock Worker, 1932-1933
© Walker Evans, Squatters Village Cuba, 1933
Years of the Great Depression
During the years 1935-1937 Evans worked for the government's New Deal Resettlement program (later called the Farm Security), to document the life of South American farmers during the Great Depression. In this project he developed his artistic style to documented the facts in a detailed precise and neutral way, using a large format 8x10 inch camera. A collection of his works was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in 1938 entitled "American Photographs", which is the first personal exhibition that MOMA dedicated to a single photographer. The book of the same title with 100 photographs by Evans, accompanied with a critical essay by Lincoln Kirstein, remains today one of the most influential books in the history of modern photography.
© Walker Evans, Roadside Store between Tuscaloasa and Greensboro, Alabama-1935
© Walker Evans, Easton Pennsylvania, 1935
© Walker Evans, Breakfast Room at Belle Grove Plantation White-Chapel, Louisiana, 1935
© Walker Evans, Houses and Billboards Atlanta, 1936
© Walker Evans, View of Easton Pennsylvania, 1936
© Walker Evans, Graveyard and Steel Mill Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1935
© Walker Evans, Birmingham Steel Mill and Workers Houses, 1936
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
During 1936, Evans undertook a trip to the South, with the writer and friend James Agee, to document the difficult lives of three sharecropper families affected by the economic crisis. The project, which was rejected for publication by Fortune magazine, was published in 1941 in the form of a book of pictures by Evans and text by Agee, entitled "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men". The photos of this project remain iconic images of America affected by the Great Depression.
© Walker Evans, Coal Miner's House West-Virginia, 1936
© Walker Evans, Farmers Kitchen Hale-County Alabama, 1936
© Walker Evans, Sharecropper Hale-County Alabama, 1936
© Walker Evans, Church Organ and Pews, Alabama, 1936
© Walker Evans, Negro Church South Carolina, 1936
© Walker Evans, Barber Shop Vicksburg Mississippi, 1936
© Walker Evans, Country Store and Gas Station, Alabama, 1936
© Walker Evans, Roadside View Alabama Coal Area Company Town, 1936
© Walker Evans, Roadside Stand near Birmingham, Alabama, 1936
© Walker Evans, Window Display Bethlehem Pennsylvania, 1935
© Walker Evans, Penny Picture Display, Savannah 1936
Subway Portraits
From 1938-1941, Walker Evans photographed New Yorkers on the subway, captured by his Contax 35mm camera, hidden under his coat. The photographic series was published many years later (1966), under the title "Many are called".As he puts it, he wanted to photograph people "when the guard is down and the mask is off." The motif of casual passers-by, is a recurring motif in Evans work. While working for Fortune in 1946, he photographed with Rolleiflex a series of portraits of workers on the streets of Chicago, which are published in 2 pages of the magazine under the title "Labor Anonymous".
© Walker Evans, Subway Portrait, 1938-1941
© Walker Evans, Subway Portrait, 1938-1941
© Walker Evans, Labor Anonymous, Fortune November 1946, pp152-153
Years in Time and Fortune Magazine
Evans worked for Time magazines (1943-1945), and later for Fortune (1945-1965) as a photo editor, producing over 400 photos and 46 articles. Evans had complete control over the publication of his photographs, he chose the subjects himself, the accompanying writings and the layout of the magazine. Having photographed America at its most difficult years, now Evans captures its rise as the world superpower, the culture of automobile and consumerism.
© Walker Evans, Burlesque Theater, Chicago 1946
© Walker Evans, Views of Pedestrians Uniontown, Maryland, 1946
© Walker Evans, Pedestrians Uniontown Maryland, 1946
© Walker Evans, Shoppers Randolph Street, Chicago 1946
© Walker Evans, Untitled Chicago, 1946
© Walker Evans, Lamp on Table, Evans Apartment New-York, 1946
© Walker Evans, Details of Clapboard House, 1960
Last years
In 1965, Evans began teaching photography at Yale University School of Art and Design. During the ’70s he experimented with colour photography, and the Polaroid SX-70 camera, with an unlimited supply of film from Kodak. These photographs are interesting studies of colour and shape, on Evans' preferred motif: architecture, portraits and signs.
© Walker Evans, New-York Streets, 1957-1959
© Walker Evans, New-York Streets, 1957-1959
© Walker Evans, Telephone Pole and Red Barn, 1974
Walker Evans's photographs are in the collections of:
Selected Books by Walker Evans
W. Eugene Smith
W. Eugene Smith was an American photographer, known as the father of photo essay in the American editorial of the '40s and '50s. He created the genre’s model and standards that were followed for a long time. Eugene Smith worked for several magazines of the time such as: Newsweek, Life, and for the agency Magnum as a freelancer.
W. Eugene Smith
(U.S.A 1918-1978)
Portrait of W. Eugene Smith. Photograph by Fran Erzen
W. Eugene Smith was an American photographer, known as the father of photo essay in the American editorial of the '40s and '50s. He created the genre’s model and standards that were followed for a long time. Eugene Smith worked for several magazines of the time such as: Newsweek, Life, and for the agency Magnum as a freelancer. His most famous photos essays are (in chronological order): World War II (1943), Country Doctor (1948), The Midwife (1951), The Spanish Village (1951), Man of Mercy (1954), Pittsburg (1955), Jazz Loft (1965), Minamata (1971).
During his career in photography, Eugene Smith is distinguished for his humanism, the need to know his subjects well, the perfectionism and anti-conformism to the dictate and boundaries set by the mass media. More than a photojournalist, he is a director of storytelling and a poet of photography through the use of light and chiaro-scuro.
US Marine World War II. Photograph by W. Eugene Smith
A Hospital in a Philippine Cathedral (Island of Leyte). Photograph by W. Eugene Smith
“The walk to Paradise garden” 1946, Photography W. Eugene Smith
“Country Doctor, Ernest Ceriani”, 1948, Photography W. Eugene Smith
His most important photo essays addressing the theme of urbanisation and consequences of industrialisation are; Pittsburg (1955) and Minamatas (1971).
Eugene Smith began photographing Pittsburgh in 1955 when writer and publisher Stefan Lorant asked him a series of photographs to illustrate his book on the city's 100th anniversary. Smith saw this commission as a personal project. He extended the duration of the project from three months to three years, and expanded the subject by photographing the modernity and the steel industry, as well as other topics that did not belong to government propaganda, such as working class conditions, poor neighbourhoods, the immigrants, the African American community, preceding the riots of the 1960s. In this project, Smith built a rich archive consisting of 17,000 photographic images and audio recordings, a small part of which have been published.
Inside Mellon National Bank. Photograph by W. Eugene Smith.
International Union of Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers. Photograph by W. Eugene Smith
City Council Chamber, Pittsburg, © Photography W. Eugene Smith
Children at Colwell and Pride Streets, Hill District. Photograph by W. Eugene Smith
Pittsburg, 1955, Photography by W. Eugene Smith
Sixth Street Bridge over Allegheny River. Photograph by W. Eugene Smith
Steelworker wearing goggles and a hardhat. Photograph by W. Eugene Smith
Rails, Homestead works, U.S. Steel, Monongahela River. Photograph by W. Eugene Smith
US Steel Pittsburg, 1955 Photograph by W. Eugene Smith
Pittsburg 1955 Photograph by W. Eugene Smith
In Minamata series (1971-1973), Eugene Smith photographs the inhabitants of Minamata coastal area in Japan affected by a severe disease caused by mercury in the industrial waste of Chisso factory, a giant chemical industry in the area. In 1972, Smith was attacked by Chisso Company, to stop the publication of the project on Minamata disease, which caused him severe injuries and loss of vision. The photo essay was published in 1975 and its main photo was ‘Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath”, shot in 1971, showing a mother in a traditional Japanese bathtub, with her daughter deformed by the disease. The photo drew public attention to the Minamata disease. Smith's photographs were the main evidence in the trial against Chisso, and the first case in Japan where a company became liable of the damages it caused to the people, which made Smith a national hero in Japan.
Minamata, 1972 Photography W. Eugene Smith
Minamata 1971 Photograph by W. Eugene Smith
Goi, near Tokyo. Demonstration at the Chisso Plant. 1971 Photograph by W. Eugene Smith
Demonstrators against the Chisso Chemical Company demonstrating in front of the plant near Tokyo during the Pollution Board hearings. 1971. Eugene Smith
After Minimata project, Eugene Smith returned to America, but was not able to photograph anymore. He taught at university and arranged his archive until 1978, when he died of a heart attack. Eugene Smith believed in the power of photography to change the world. In 1980, the Eugene Smith Fund was established to finance humanitarian photographic projects that cannot be funded by the mass media, contributing to the growth of the independent voice of photographers.
W. Eugene Smith Fund: https://www.smithfund.org/humanistic-photography
Selected Books by W. Eugene Smith
Berenice Abbott
Berenice Abbott is an American photographer known for documenting the architecture and metropolitan life of New York with all its contrasts in the ’30s of the Great Depression. She photographed with an 8x10 inch camera the new architecture of New York that was emerging, but also the places that were disappearing from development.
Berenice Abbott
(U.S.A 1898-1991)
Berenice Abbott Portrait
Berenice Abbott is an American photographer known for documenting the architecture and metropolitan life of New York with all its contrasts in the ’30s of the Great Depression. Berenice Abbott is known for her documentary style, outside of any subjectivism and pictorialism. She photographed with an 8x10 inch camera the new architecture of New York that was emerging, but also the places that were disappearing from development. Her main influence was the French photographer Eugene Atget, who scrupulously photographed old Paris, which was disappearing from the modernity of the early 20th century. Abbott called Atget ‘the Balzac of the camera’ and an ‘urban historian’. She is credited with rescuing Atget's archive when, after his death, she bought all the negatives and took them to America, where she worked to publish his work. In the last years of her career Berenice Abbott was involved in the technical and scientific aspects of photography.
One of her expressions is "The world doesn't like independent women, I don't know why, but I don’t care"
