Home Photo Gallery Classroom Documents For A League Of American Photographers
August 1938
Photography has tremendous social value. Upon the photographer rests the responsibility and duty of recording a true image of the world as it is today. Moreover, he must not only show us how we live, but indicate the logical development of our lives. Photographers associated with the Photo League have always worked in keeping with the traditions set by Steiglitz, Strand, Abbott and Weston. Photography has long suffered, on the one hand, from the stultifying influence of the pictorialists, who photographically have never entered the 20th century, and, on the other, from the so-called "modernists", who retired into a cult of red filters and confusing angles much beloved by the manufacturers of photographic materials. These workers appear in the public eye as the most articulate representatives of the craft. The Photo League's task is to put the camera back into the hands of honest photographers, who will use it to photograph America. We must include within our ranks the thousands of New York's amateurs. We must also include the established workers who have creative desires and who do not find an adequate outlet in their day to day tasks. The Photo League can give them the proper orientation and serve as a focal point for discussion and mutual criticism, We have long felt that such expansion would incur numerous organizational problems but these have either been surmounted or minimized. Our primary aim will be to further the type of photography exemplified by the T. V. A. and the Resettlement Administration. ration. From these two projects have come not only homes and electricity but the first true pictorial record of the lives of Americans. The first step in the formation of such an all inclusive organization must be drastic reduction in dues. The Executive Board has made several suggestions which must be considered by the membership. The next step will be to call a conference of outstanding workers in the near future. At the conference specific plans will be discussed and a complete program formulated. Our efforts to unite the representive photographers of today must be met with success. Photography is at a crucial stage in its development. Will the dampening influence of those who would distort it defeat the true function of photography? Or will we through organization give the necessary impetus to the honest representatives of this craft.
|