Paul Strand summary

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White Fence, photograph by Paul Strand, 1916. — *White Fence*, photograph by Paul Strand, 1916.

Paul Strand, (born Oct. 16, 1890, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died March 31, 1976, Oregeval, France), U.S. photographer. He studied photography with Lewis Hine. At Hine’s urging, he frequented Alfred Stieglitz’s “291” gallery; the avant-garde paintings by Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, and Georges Braque that he saw there led him to emphasize abstract form and pattern in his photographs, such as Wall Street (1915). He rejected soft-focus Pictorialism in favour of the minute detail and rich tonal range afforded by the use of large-format cameras. Much of his later work was devoted to North American and European scenes and landscapes. He collaborated on documentary films with Charles Sheeler and Pare Lorentz.

film Summary

Film, series of still photographs on film, projected in rapid succession onto a screen by means of light. Because of the optical phenomenon known as persistence of vision, this gives the illusion of actual, smooth, and continuous movement. (Read Martin Scorsese’s Britannica essay on film