Strand is simply the biggest, widest most commanding talent in the history of American photography.
– Susan Sontag, New York Review of Books
Toronto. About 50 years ago, I saw a few of the works of Paul Strand. His 1917 photograph of a blind woman shows up in many places. The photograph by Strand of people scurrying along Wall Street past the J P Morgan building two years earlier (titled Wall Street is even more compelling (to me).
But while many books show Strand’s work, there are few details of the man himself. In issue 16-1, editor Ev Roseborough adds two thought provoking articles, First is titled. “Strand – Under the Dark Cloth“. It offers excerpts from a review of John Walker’s film of the same name. The film premiered at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto in early 1990. The second of Ev’s articles, “Paul Strand, 1890-1976”, gives a thumb-nail history of the iconic photographer.
Note: The title of this post is a riff on a line in the Simon and Garfunkel song, “A Simple Desultory Philippic”, a satire of Bob Dylan sung here by S&G. The song appeared on the LP Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme (which I have).
Members read the pdf version of issue 16-1 on the PHSC DVD (free to members). Not a member? Well it’s so easy (and cheap)! See the menu item ‘MEMBERSHIP’ above or the ‘Membership – Join or Renew!’ paragraphs to the right of this web page, Questions? Drop an email to Lilianne Schneider, our Membership Secretary at member@phsc.ca.
I”ll end this post with another plug to visit our fall events, the next one being our Fall Fair on October 20th.
