Paul Strand circa 1916

Rating:
Summary: A must for any Paul Strand admirer
Review: Admittedly, Paul Strand's recognition stems from his later politically focused work, and until this book, his early work had never really been looked at as a collection. Even were I to look at this book merely from that standpoint, I would consider it an outstanding book--a worthy addition to any photographer's collection. But it goes beyond that. The introduction addresses the enigma surrounding Strands early years, and attempts to bring it together to examine the influences that could possibly have inspired him in the years circa 1916. A few of the interesting details the author touches on include Lewis Hine as his photography teacher, a fieldtrip lead by Hine to Alfred Stieglitz's gallery [291], Stieglitz's initial criticism of Strand's portfolio as well as a later portfolio shown to Stieglitz and Stiechen thought to include such images as City Hall Park (plate 14), Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street (plate 15), and Wall Street (plate 18) resulting in Strand's warm acceptance into Stieglitz's elite photography realm. Oddly though, relatively little is said about his candid portraits taken with his false lens camera, though Strand does provide an anecdote explaining why he stopped working on the project.

The author questions many of the answers Strand gave her in her interview, deciding that between an aged memory and a memory changed to suit his life and career, his comments give more a frame of reference rather than fact, and as such, leave many questions unanswered. At times, her skepticism does get a bit annoying, but can be easily ignored.

I personally am particularly drawn to City Hall Park and Wall Street. Though documenting New York City through photography was popular at the time, Strand took what could easily have been simply another snapshot and thru carefully monitored composition and light, as well as a momentary element of chance, turned it into an incredible piece of art. Specifically, in Wall Street, the stark, intimidating face of the JP Morgan building and it's enormous black windows tower over the crowd trudging their way to work early one morning, leaves me with a sense of awe that he captured that moment with perfect composition, light, thought, and frankly, an absolute grace rarely seen in photography today. Outstanding.

The publishers handled the collection well. With a relatively heavy, smooth paper, rich sepia tones and excellent reproductions of the photographs, it feels like proper homage was paid to such incredible photographs. Also, their handling of the layout of the plates is well thought out and retrospectively elegant. Each plate is displayed on the right of the spread while the left page is blank, save an unobtrusive plate number. This is a wonderful book, a proud addition to my own collection, and hopefully yours.

Rating:
Summary: Provocative, daring, inspirational: Strand fans must see!
Review: Paul Strand unquestionably had a great career in photography and is one of the all time masters. But this book of his early work shows the depth of his artistic vision. Unconstrained by commercial pressures and reputation, much of Strand's early work shown in this book is graphically stronger, more "edgy", and more compelling than his later work, as acclaimed as it is.

If you love Strand's later work, this book, at the very least, will be meaningful to you by showing you a glimpse of the development of this great photographer. Beyond that, you may love his early work and find it compelling and inspirational, as I do.