Gallery of Fine Art Photography - Atlanta GA

dialogue

The Intertwined Careers of Lewis Hine, Paul Strand & Bernice Abbott

Social documentary photographer Lewis Hine’s career intersected with two of the Circle of Light artists, Paul Strand and Berenice Abbott. At the dawn of the Twentieth Century, Hine, who was making iconic Ellis Island photographs, taught an extracurricular course at New York’s Ethical Culture School, and one of his students was a young Paul Strand. READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Lewis taught this small class of six students the mechanics of the camera, how to use magnesium powder in flashes, and most importantly, he introduced Strand to Alfred Stieglitz at the Photo-Secession Gallery on Fifth Avenue. This was a fortuitous meeting, as Stieglitz eventually became a major advocate for Strand, publishing his early photographs and heralding Strand’s accomplishments through the gallery.
Child Labor - Lewis Hine

Child Labor – Lewis Hine

Though he was only 17, after visiting the gallery Strand declared that his only goal to be “an artist in photography.” After this pivotal encounter, Strand never veered from a life in art. After finishing high school, Strand decided not to attend college, and after brief stints working for his father, and serving in the army, he embarked on a life of photography and filmmaking.
Portrait of Lewis Hine, by Berenice Abbott

Portrait of Lewis Hine, by Berenice Abbott

Berenice Abbott played a role in Hine’s career at the end of his life. She visited Hine when he was ill and had been rendered impoverished by the Great Depression. The artist who exposed the evils of child labor, unsafe working conditions, the plight of immigrants and the slums of the Lower East Side of Manhattan had been largely forgotten. Abbott organized an exhibition of his work that re-established Hine’s contribution to the medium of photography and the progressive movement.
Much has been written about Berneice Abbott’s heroic efforts to preserve the Parisian negatives of Eugene Atget. She played a similar role in cementing Hine’s place in art history. Martha Wheelock, who made a documentary of Berenice Abbott’s life, recounts the Hine-Abbott connection. “Lewis Hine was penniless and had all these interesting pictures of people working in the mills. Bernice Abbott alone got his work in the press and also staged an exhibition of his work, but she never did that sort of thing for herself. I think that says a great deal about her as a human being and as an artist.”

Posted in: a Deeper Look

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2 years ago
Lumiere

Celebrating the work of Alexander Rodchenko born on this day in 1891. Rodchenko was a Russian artist, sculptor, photographer and graphic designer. He was one of the founders of constructivism and Russian design. Rodchenko was one of the most versatile Constructivist and Productivist artists to emerge after the Russian Revolution. He worked as a painter and graphic designer before turning to photomontage and photography. His photography was socially engaged, formally innovative, and opposed to a painterly aesthetic. Concerned with the need for analytical-documentary photo series, he often shot his subjects from odd angles—usually high above or below—to shock the viewer and to postpone recognition. He wrote: “One has to take several different shots of a subject, from different points of view and in different situations, as if one examined it in the round rather than looked through the same key-hole a#lumieregallery&#AlexanderRodchenkol#rodchenkon#sovietphotographyhenko
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2 years ago
Lumiere

Celebrating the work of Robert Glenn Ketchum on his 75th birthday. Ketchum's imagery and books have helped to define contemporary color photography while at the same time addressing critical national environmental issues. This has made him one of the most successful artist/activists in American history. His work in Alaska illustrate this point, first in the Tongass Rain Forest, where his images were credited with helping to pass the Tongass Timber Reform Bill of 1990. One of his current efforts is in Southwest Alaska, aimed to protect the largest wild salmon habitats from the ill-advised Pebble Mine. Wishing you many more years to continue your work!!

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2 years ago
Lumiere

Sharing some beautiful Georgia landscapes by Diane Kirkland on this pretty fall day. #lumieregallery #dianekirkland ... See MoreSee Less

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