Photography And Politics In America: From The New Deal Into The Cold War

Photography and Politics in America: From the New Deal into the Cold War

In the early and most intense years of the cold war, social documentary photographers often found themselves in ideological turmoil or, worse, in trouble with the government. In Photography and Politics in America, Lili Corbus Bezner argues that many of the photographers of this period retreated from overt political content. Although many critics defended the trend, arguing that truly visionary art transcended politics, Bezner notes that the cold war era effectively silenced some of the most socially engaged photographers in American society.In this compelling book, Bezner brings back many of those silenced voices and offers the first detailed analysis of social documentary photography from the Depression through the early cold war years. She traces the political and artistic struggles of socially concerned photographers, often using original and never before published interviews with artists. She explores the little-known history of the controversial, blacklisted Photo League and leading member Sid Grossman. And she recalls some of the most important moments in American photographic history of the 1950s, such as the blockbuster exhibition The Family of Man and Robert Frank's influential book The Americans. Review "Details the ways in which several concerned artists battled not only with prevailing artistic conventions -- the influence of Bauhaus and Surrealism -- but also with social suspicions that their photographs were aiding int the spread of Communist propaganda." -- DoubleTake"Bezner's study adds a layer of complexity to a seemingly intractable debate about the nature of photography." -- Mark Rice, Reviews in American History"This important book fills a very large gap in our understanding of how and why the definition of documentary changed during the Cold War and the resulting invisibility of race and vlass in 1059's America... There has not been another book that discusses this process by so fully integrating economic, political, and aesthetic contexts as does Bezner in this clearly worded and carefully organized study... This is an important, and for too long missing, link in the history of photography, and it is equally an exemplary addition to the field of visual culture." -- Catherine L. Preston, American Studies Review "This is one of the most sound expansions of photographic history that I have seen. Bezner has set a new standard for books on the history of photography, especially in the scholarly evidence which her new research and extensive documentation provide." -- James L. Enyeart, Director, Marion Center at the College of Santa Fe Book Description A comprehensive study of American documentary photogtaphy during the cold war and how many socially-engaged photographers were silenced. About the Author Lili Corbus Bezner is an associate professor of art history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.