Paul Strand
Paul Strand was born on October 16, 1890 in New York City—it was at the age of twelve that Strand had received his first camera from his father. He attended Ethical Culture School, gathering influence from a teacher named Lewis W. Hine, who had told him to take a closer look at object It was a school affiliated trip that led Paul Strand to multiple amounts of work from photographers in the Pictorial movement. He first experimented with gum printing, leaning towards a soft-focus style, but that didn’t last long. Other influences of art created a wave that made Strand stray from his original routine of photographing.
Non-manipulative photographing had soon taken the place of his gum printing and soft-focus style. Strand used general geometric shapes along with space and pattern to develop a “dramatic departure from Pictorialism” (Oden Par. 4). The aim was to find the amazement in everyday activities and locations. He took pictures of bowls, plates, tables and much more, transferring him to the intriguing art of modernism. (Cahill)
His main attractions were “movement in the city, abstractions, and street portraits” (Department of Photographs). Ironically enough, his main focuses were not centered on the fast paced movement, but rather the objects that seemed to slow down time. Strand wanted to capture the moments of truth, with no chance of manipulation in any way. He was also aware of how all the elements that were to be present in his photographs fit together.
First article used: http://iphf.org/inductees/paul-strand/
Second article used: https://www.csmonitor.com/1998/0731/073198.feat.feat.6.html
Third article used: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pstd/hd_pstd.htm
