Paul Strand; The Family, Luzzara, Italy (1953)

On display at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, Mt. Vernon, Illinois

Transcript

Paul Strand is one of the giants in modern photography.

Strand advocated "straight photography," and photographed street portraits to city scenes, machine forms, and plants with his distinctive clarity, precision, and geometric form. His prints are masterly in detail and tonality, and his approach has greatly influenced American photography.

Strand’s first priority when photographing people was always the personal dignity of men and women, as seen in his photo The Family.

Strand was introduced to the family in this photograph by his close friend, Italian film director Cesare Zavattini.

Zavattini had met the mother who stands in the doorway, as she and Zavattini were both from the town of Luzzara. The woman told Zavattini her family’s story of how she had married at eighteen, how four of her children died in childbirth, and the political struggles of her husband. Here, she is surrounded by five of her eight sons, each a veteran of a different campaign in the Second World War.

Strand has said,

“I always felt that my relationship to photography and people was serious. I was attempting to give something to the world and not exploit anyone in the process.