Paul Strand
Born 1890, New York
Died 1976, Orgeval, France
Yawning Woman, New York, ca. 1916, printed 1983, from the portfolio “Paul Strand: The Formative Years 1914 – 1917”
Photogravure
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
Paul Strand
Born 1890, New York
Died 1976, Orgeval, France
Wall Street, New York, 1915, printed 1984
Platinum print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.118
Paul Strand was a proponent of “straight photography”—a rigorous aesthetic characterized by sharp focus and depth of field. In his early career, he applied this approach most frequently to the geometric patterns found in the streets of New York. Wall Street, New York (1915) is both a social commentary and an exploration of abstraction. The big, black, rectangular shapes of windows overwhelm the scurrying people on the sidewalk—a metaphor for the power of Wall Street and big business.
Edward Steichen
Born 1879, Bivange, Luxembourg
Died 1973, West Redding, Connecticut
Torso, Paris, 1902, printed 1996, from the portfolio “Edward Steichen: The Early Years 1900 – 1927”
Photogravure
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
Paul Strand
Born 1890, New York
Died 1976, Orgeval, France
Wire Wheel, New York, 1920, printed 1984
Platinum print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
Paul Strand
Born 1890, New York
Died 1976, Orgeval, France
From the Viaduct, 125th Street, New York, 1915, printed 1983, from the portfolio “Paul Strand: The Formative Years 1914 – 1917”
Photogravure
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
Paul Strand
Born 1890, New York
Died 1976, Orgeval, France
Abstraction, Porch Shadows, Twin Lakes, Connecticut, 1916, printed 1983, from the portfolio “Paul Strand: The Formative Years 1914 – 1917”
Photogravure
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
Edward Steichen
Born 1879, Bivange, Luxembourg
Died 1973, West Redding, Connecticut
The Flatiron, New York, 1905, printed 1996, from the portfolio “Edward Steichen: The Early Years 1900 – 1927”
Photogravure
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
In 1902, Edward Steichen, with Alfred Stieglitz, founded the Photo-secession group, who were primarily interested in a style called Pictorial photography. In an effort to locate the photograph in fine art, practitioners imitated painting and opted to translate popular painting subjects such as nudes, landscapes, and historical scenes into photographs. They often manipulated the final print to eliminate the sharp, technical precision of the medium. The Flatiron, New York (1905) is done in the soft-focus, painterly, Pictorial style, yet it depicts New York’s Flatiron building, an icon of Modernist architecture.
Barbara Morgan
Born 1900, Buffalo, Kansas
Died 1990, North Tarrytown, New York
Martha Graham, Lamentation (oblique), 1935, printed 2002, from the portfolio “Founders & Friends: Aperture at 50”
Platinum-palladium print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
Interested in translating the expressive movement of modern dance onto a two-dimensional surface, Barbara Morgan photographed Martha Graham, a pioneer of innovative dance, performing one of her most famous solos, “Lamentation.” Morgan suspended the dance in her photograph and focused on the sharp angles created by Graham’s knees and elbows, the linear folds of her costume, and the dramatic shadow cast by her body.
Paul Strand
Born 1890, New York
Died 1976, Orgeval, France
Rebecca, 1923, printed 2002, from the portfolio “Founders & Friends: Aperture at 50”
Platinum-palladium print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
Minor White
Born 1908, Minneapolis
Died 1976, Boston
Windowsill Daydreaming, Rochester, New York, 1958, printed 2002, from the portfolio “Founders & Friends: Aperture at 50”
Platinum-palladium print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
Minor White was heavily influenced by Alfred Stieglitz’s theory of the “equivalent”—the idea that a photograph is a metaphor for the emotional state or experience of the photographer when he or she captured the image. According to White, a photograph became an “equivalent” when it went beyond its subject matter and formal elements to inspire the emotions. In Windowsill Daydreaming, Rochester, New York (1958), the individual elements of the composition—curtains, windowsill, reflection—disappear into an almost abstract image that evokes White’s dreamy state when he took the photograph.
Edward Weston
Born 1886, Highland Park, Illinois
Died 1958, Carmel, California
Charis, 1936, printed 2002, from the portfolio “Founders & Friends: Aperture at 50”
Platinum-palladium print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
Dorothea Lange
Born1895, Hoboken, New Jersey
Died 1965, Marin County, California
Migratory Cotton Picker, Eloy, Arizona, 1940, printed 2002, from the portfolio “Founders & Friends: Aperture at 50”
Platinum-palladium print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
In the 1930s, many families from Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas fled the Dust Bowl and moved to Arizona and California to work in the cotton fields. Dorothea Lange took this image of a migratory worker when she was in Arizona documenting the plight of the workers for the Farm Security Administration. Lange felt very strongly about accurately capturing her subjects. She often wrote down their comments or made notes about their gestures or living conditions.
From Left to Right:
AndrÉ KertÉsz
Born 1894, Budapest
Died 1985, New York
Martinique, 1972, printed 1976
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.075
AndrÉ KertÉsz
Born 1894, Budapest
Died 1985, New York
Satiric Dancer, Paris, 1926
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.077
In Satiric Dancer, Paris (1926), the female figure on the couch responds to the spiral pose of the sculpture on her right by bending and twisting her legs, torso, and arms. Although the dancer was in motion, André Kertész captured the exact moment when the angle of her legs matched the implied movement of the sculpture. Kertész once commented: “People in motion are wonderful to photograph. It means catching the right moment—the moment when something changes into something else.” In his images, he frequently focused on odd, fleeting views that often go unnoticed by the naked eye.
From Left to Right:
John Gutmann
Born 1905, Breslau, Germany
Died 1998, San Francisco
Lunch Hour, San Francisco, 1934
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.55
John Gutmann
Born 1905, Breslau, Germany
Died 1998, San Francisco
Death Stalks the Fillmore, 1934
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.54
John Gutmann immigrated to San Francisco from Germany in 1933 when the United States was in the middle of the Great Depression. With Germany’s political unrest fresh in his mind, Gutmann, unlike most other contemporaneous photographers, focused on the vitality that he found in San Francisco and the “bizarre, exotic qualities of the country.” Death Stalks the Fillmore (1934) features Gutmann’s wife walking down Fillmore Street in San Francisco; a veil covers her face. Her hidden visage along with the title of the photograph hint at danger, but everything else in the photograph—her polka-dot dress, the cars lining the street, and the café in the background—suggest normalcy. Gutmann imbued the photograph with ambiguity: he depicted what he saw but left the conclusions to the viewer.
P.H. Polk
Born 1898, Bessemer, Alabama
Died 1984, Tuskegee, Alabama
Henry Baker, 1932, printed 1981, from the portfolio “P.H. Polk”
Photogravure
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.50.04
As the official photographer for the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) from 1939 until his death in 1984, P.H. Polk documented key events and individuals in the school’s history. Pearl Cleage Lomax, who wrote the introduction to this portfolio of his work, noted his extraordinary success as a photographer: “It was not easy at the beginning of this century for a young black man from Bessemer, Alabama, to realize a dream. To pursue a dream of becoming a professional photographer must have seemed almost foolheardy.” This portfolio features images of Polk’s colleagues and associates at the institute, portraits of African-American individuals and families, and depictions of former slaves.
From Left to Right:
P.H. Polk
Born 1898, Bessemer, Alabama
Died 1984, Tuskegee, Alabama
Mr. & Mrs. T.M. Campbell & Children, ca. 1932, printed 1981, from the portfolio “P.H. Polk”
Photogravure
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.50.08
P.H. Polk
Born 1898, Bessemer, Alabama
Died 1984, Tuskegee, Alabama
Mildred Hansen Baker, 1937, printed 1981, from the portfolio “P.H. Polk”
Photogravure
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.50.06
P.H. Polk
Born 1898, Bessemer, Alabama
Died 1984, Tuskegee, Alabama
Old Women, 1932, printed 1981, from the portfolio “P.H. Polk”
Photogravure
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.50.01
From Left to Right:
P.H. Polk
Born 1898, Bessemer, Alabama
Died 1984, Tuskegee, Alabama
Catherine Moton Patterson, ca. 1936, printed 1981, from the portfolio “P.H. Polk”
Photogravure
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.50.10
P.H. Polk
Born 1898, Bessemer, Alabama
Died 1984, Tuskegee, Alabama
George Washington Carver, ca. 1930, printed 1981, from the portfolio “P.H. Polk”
Photogravure
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.50.09
P.H. Polk
Born 1898, Bessemer, Alabama
Died 1984, Tuskegee, Alabama
The Boss, 1932, printed 1981, from the portfolio “P.H. Polk”
Photogravure
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.50.02
The Boss (1932) is part of a series of portraits P. H. Polk made of former slaves in Macon County, Alabama. Polk used sharp resolution to highlight the threadbare clothing and worn faces of his subjects. The woman he called “the boss” worked at the Tuskegee Institute market. She charged Polk one dollar for allowing him to take her photograph.
From Left to Right:
P.H. Polk
Born 1898, Bessemer, Alabama
Died 1984, Tuskegee, Alabama
Theodore and Cornelius Polk, 1936, printed 1981, from the portfolio “P.H. Polk”
Photogravure
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.50.07
P.H. Polk
Born 1898, Bessemer, Alabama
Died 1984, Tuskegee, Alabama
Margaret Blanche Polk, 1946, printed 1981, from the portfolio “P.H. Polk”
Photogravure
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.50.05
P.H. Polk
Born 1898, Bessemer, Alabama
Died 1984, Tuskegee, Alabama
The Pipe Smoker, 1932, printed 1981, from the portfolio “P.H. Polk”
Photogravure
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.50.03
From Left to Right:
Alfred Stieglitz
Born 1864, Hoboken, New Jersey
Died 1946, New York
New York Series Spring 1935 (Daytime), 1935, printed 1995, from the portfolio “Alfred Stieglitz: A Personal Vision”
Photogravure
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.116.01
Alfred Stieglitz
Born 1864, Hoboken, New Jersey
Died 1946, New York
New York Series Spring 1935 (Nighttime), 1935, printed 1995, from the portfolio “Alfred Stieglitz: A Personal Vision”
Photogravure
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.116.02
Peter Stackpole
Born 1913, San Francisco
Died 1997, Novato, California
View from Ferry, 1935
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.61
Peter Stackpole
Born 1913, San Francisco
Died 1997, Novato, California
Workers Going Home, 1935
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.60
Peter Stackpole documented the construction of the Golden Gate and Bay bridges and the brave workmen who daily climbed the high towers to build them. In Workers Going Home (1935), Stackpole captured a group of men going home early following the accidental death of one of their co-workers. Behind them looms the skeleton of the Bay Bridge. The men are somber, deep in contemplation as they reflect on their loss. This photograph serves as a reminder that sacrifice is often inherent in progress.
Wright Morris
Born 1910, Central City, Nebraska
Died 1998, Mill Valley, California
Model-T with California Top, Ed’s Place, 1947
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.88
Wright Morris often paired his photographs with his fiction writing and called them “photo-texts.” Both his writing and photography were inspired by his childhood memories of moving from town to town in Nebraska and the Midwest with his father. As a photographer, he made trips across the United States to document rural life and its vernacular architecture, such as farm houses, fences, and barns.
In his second “photo-text” work, The Home Place (published in 1948), the main character, Clyde Muncy, describes his experience with an old Model-T automobile: “A blue cloud of smoke shot out of the exhaust, the body throbbed with a kind of palsy, she bucked twice, then suddenly jerked out of the garage. She swung around in a half moon, grazing the bark on the box elder, rattling the harrow, then pulling up, suddenly, facing me. The old man held the wheel like he had a live snake in his hands.”
Arthur Rothstein
Born 1915, New York
Died 1985, New Rochelle, New York
Dust Storm, Oklahoma, 1936
Gelatin silver print, toned
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.105
Arthur Rothstein was one of the first photographers to be hired by the Farm Security Administration (FSA). He was charged with documenting the plight of the American farmer. Dust Storm, Oklahoma (1936) shows a man and his two small sons forging their way against the powerful, arid, and dusty wind. Rothstein captured this image of devastation in the Dust Bowl in Cimarron County in the panhandle of Oklahoma.
Arthur Rothstein
Born 1915, New York
Died 1985, New Rochelle, New York
Drought Area, Empty Farm, South Dakota, ca. 1936
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.27
Ruth Bernhard
Born 1905, Berlin
Died 2006, San Francisco
Lifesavers, 1930
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.45
With ninety dollars in severance pay from a job as a darkroom assistant, Ruth Bernhard purchased photography equipment and a roll of Life Savers—the essential elements of her first still lifes. In Lifesavers (1930), light sharply illuminates the carefully placed candy and casts crisp, distinct shadows. Bernhard stated: “Photography renders light as no other medium does. When the photographer knows by experience the qualities of light and the subtleties of his medium, light begins to glow in his photographs.”
Ruth Bernhard
Born 1905, Berlin
Died 2006, San Francisco
Creation, 1936
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the artist, in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art’s 35th Anniversary
2004.22.01
In her photographs, Ruth Bernhard transforms mundane objects into striking meditations on the formal qualities of line, color, space, and point of view. In Creation, she fashioned a simple vignette out of a wooden hand, a doll’s head, and a distant mountainous landscape. It is a montage of seemingly unrelated items, elegantly connected through the photographer’s lyrical presentation. Seen through her lens, Life Savers become porcelain discs, old dolls are symbols of diverse humanity, and the nude human body is apotheosized into a classical Greek marble sculpture.
Ruth Bernhard
Born 1905, Berlin
Died 2006, San Francisco
Eighth Street Movie Theater, New York, Frederick Kiesler, Architect, 1946
Gelatin silver print
Gift of the artist, in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art’s 35th Anniversary
2004.22.02
From Left to Right:
Ruth Bernhard
Born 1905, Berlin
Died 2006, San Francisco
Doorknob, 1975
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.46
Ruth Bernhard
Born 1905, Berlin
Died 2006, San Francisco
Angel Wing, 1944
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.47
Ruth Bernhard
Born 1905, Berlin
Died 2006, San Francisco
In the Box, Horizontal, 1962, printed 1992
Gelatin silver print
Gift from the Estate of Ruth Bernhard
2007.25
Ruth Bernhard
Born 1905, Berlin
Died 2006, San Francisco
Two Forms, 1963
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.44
Godfrey Frankel
Born 1912, Cleveland
Died 1995, Washington, D.C.
Cooling-Off Water, New York, 1947
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.034
As a photojournalist in the 1940s, Godfrey Frankel documented the poverty in the slums of eastern cities such as New York and Washington, D.C. He often focused on the children who lived in appalling conditions. In Cooling-Off Water, New York (1947), Frankel caught a group of children playing in the street; they splash, shiver, and tease each other for the camera. Frankel often found that even in the worst neighborhoods, the children were able to find relief with very typical childhood pursuits.
Godfrey Frankel
Born 1912, Cleveland
Died 1995, Washington, D.C.
Chatham Square Barber Shop, New York, 1947
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.035
Godfrey Frankel
Born 1912, Cleveland
Died 1995, Washington, D.C.
Girl in Vacated Store, Martinsburg, West Virginia, 1943
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.033
Godfrey Frankel
Born 1912, Cleveland
Died 1995, Washington, D.C.
Skylight, Penn Station, New York, 1947
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.036
Ida Wyman
Born 1926, Malden, Massachusetts
Lives in Madison, Wisconsin
Wrought Iron with Snow, 1947, printed 1980s
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
2004.13.18
Ansel Adams
Born 1902, San Francisco
Died 1984, Carmel, California
El Capitan, Winter, Yosemite National Park, California, ca. 1960
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1982.40
Walker Evans
Born 1903, St. Louis
Died 1975, New Haven, Connecticut
Subway Portrait, 1938 – 41
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1984.23
From 1938 to 1941, Walker Evans photographed subway passengers in New York. In these portraits of strangers, Evans fully embraced the element of chance. He did not use a flash to illuminate the scene, but relied on the minimal, uncontrollable light in the subway cars and limited his equipment to a small camera hidden in his coat pocket.
Jack Delano
Born 1914, Kiev, Ukraine
Died 1997, Puerto Rico
County Jail, Greenville, Georgia, 1941
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin
1997.24.030
From Left to Right:
Weegee
Born 1899, Zloczew, Austria (now Poland)
Died 1968, New York
Playing the Harmonica on the Street for Pennies, ca. 1932
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1984.22
Weegee
Born 1899, Zloczew, Austria (now Poland)
Died 1968, New York
Untitled, n.d.
Gelatin silver print
Gift of David Devine, San Francisco
1984.21
Weegee is known for his gritty images of criminals, murders, fires, and New York’s street and night life. This untitled photograph is from a series he shot in Greenwich Village. In his essay on the series, Weegee described a typical party there: “At least once a week someone throws a party in the Village—a rent party…admission usually 50¢…probably in a loft where everybody sits on the floor, with dark circles under their eyes and listens to bongo drums. Bring your own liquor and your own girl, if possible…. Guys go to parties to find girls, but usually they’re all taken.”