Camera Work: A Photographic Quarterly (1917 (Heft 49-50))

OUR ILLUSTRATIONS

THIS number of Camera Work is devoted entirely to the new
work of Paul Strand. The last Number too was devoted, in part,
to Strand's photographs. In it we wrote:
“No photographs had been shown at‘291’in the interim, primarily because
‘291’ knew of no work outside of Paul Strand’s which was worthy of‘291/ None
outside of his had been done by any new worker in the United States for some
years, and as far as is our knowledge none had been done in Europe during that
time. By new worker, we do not mean new picture-maker. New picture-makers
happen every day, not only in photography, but also in painting. New picture-
makers are notoriously nothing but imitators of the accepted; the best of them
imitators of, possibly at one time, original workers. For ten years Strand quietly
had been studying, constantly experimenting, keeping in close touch with all that
is related to life in its fullest aspect; intimately related to the spirit of‘291/
His work is rooted in the best traditions of photography. His vision is potential.
His work is pure. It is direct. It does not rely upon tricks of process. In what-
ever he does there is applied intelligence. In the history of photography there are
but few photographers who, from the point of view of expression, have really done
work of any importance. And by importance we mean work that has some rela-
tively lasting quality, that element which gives all art its real significance.”
The eleven photogravures in this number represent the real Strand.
The man who has actually done something from within. The photog-
rapher who has added something to what has gone before. The work
is brutally direct. Devoid of all flim-flam; devoid of trickery and of
any “ism;” devoid of any attempt to mystify an ignorant public,
including the photographers themselves. These photographs are the
direct expression of today. We have reproduced them in all their
brutality. We have cut out the use of the Japan tissue for these
reproductions, not because of economy, but because the tissue proofs
we made of them introduced a factor which destroyed the directness
of Mr. Strand's expression. In their presentation we have intentionally
emphasized the spirit of their brutal directness.
The eleven pictures represent the essence of Strand.
The original prints are n x 14.

EXTRACT FROM A LETTER*
“.I have not received Camera Work for a very long
time, probably due to the war, censorship, etc., etc.,.
The older I grow the more I appreciate what you have accomplished
with your very wonderful publication. When I see you I shall be
delighted to tell you, how largely the possession of Camera Work
has helped me in my work as a teacher, and what an incentive it has
always been to my pupils toward a higher standard. It does that for
the man with the camera, what the Bible has, more or less vainly, for
centuries, tried to do for the man with a conscience.
_ Frank Eugene Smith”
*Frank Eugene Smith, generally known as Frank Eugene, and who is an Ameri-
can, is Professor of Pictorial Photography at the Royal Fine Arts Academy, Graphic
Department, in Leipsic, Germany. This letter was written on November 17, 1916,
and was addressed to Alfred Stieglitz.