Paul Strand

Paul Strand (October_16, 1890 – March_31, 1976) was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow Modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century. His diverse body of work, spanning six decades, covers numerous genres and subjects throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa.

Strand?s politics

Whether or not he carried a Party card, Paul Strand was clearly embedded in Communist networks in both America and Europe. The timing of Strand?s departure is coincident with the first libel trial of his friend Alger Hiss, with whom he maintained a close correspondence until his death. In Europe, many of Strand?s collaborators were either Party members (James Aldridge; Cesare Zavatinni) or were prominent socialist writers and activists (Basil Davidson). Many of his close friends were also well-known Communists (the lawyer D. N. Pritt; the film director Joseph Losey; the Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid; the actor Alex McCrindle).

Related Topics:
Alger Hiss - Cesare Zavatinni - Basil Davidson - Joseph Losey - Hugh MacDiarmid

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Strand also insisted that his books should be printed in Leipzig, East Germany, even if this meant that they were initially prohibited from the American market on account of their Communist provenance. De-classified intelligence files, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (United States) and now lodged at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, reveal that Strand?s movements around Europe were closely monitored by the security services. Recent scholarship has drawn attention to the timing of Strand?s visit to South Uist in Scotland?s Outer Hebrides in 1954, at precisely the moment when the island became a new frontier in the Cold War as the test site for America and Britain?s first guided nuclear weapon, the Corporal missile.

Related Topics:
Leipzig - East Germany - Freedom of Information Act (United States) - University of Arizona - South Uist - Outer Hebrides - Cold War - Corporal missile

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Strand?s interest in rural forms of sociality, unusual for a Marxist, was a means by which he explored universal themes about the meaning of community. Local forms of solidarity and communal life were, for Strand, a powerful symbol of resistance against those forces of militarism and capitalism that he opposed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Strand's estate is managed by Aperture Foundation, New York.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~