Main entry:

Bezner, Lili Corbus.

Title & Author:

Photography and politics in America : from the New Deal into the Cold War / Lili Corbus Bezner.

Publication:

Baltimore, Md. : J. Hopkins University Press, 1999.

Description:

xiv, 307 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Notes:
"Published in cooperation with the Center for American Places Sante Fe, New Mexico, and Harrisonburg, Virginia."
Includes bibliographical references (pages 287-296) and index.
Introduction: What is documentary photography? -- "Where do we go from here?": The demise of the Photo League, 1947-1951 -- Coming in from the cold: Sid Grossman's Life in the League -- Subtle subterfuge: The flawed nobility of Edward Steichen's Family of Man -- Robert Frank: The only game in town? -- Postscript: The triumph of American photographic expressionism.

Summary:

"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 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."--Jacket.
"In this 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 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 Edward Steichen's blockbuster exhibition, The Family of Man, and Robert Frank's influential book, The Americans."--Jacket.

Resources:
Table of contents
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description

ISBN:

080186187X (alk. paper)
9780801861871 (alk. paper)

Subject:

Photography United States History 20th century.
Documentary photography United States History 20th century.
Photography Political aspects United States.
Photographie documentaire États-Unis Histoire 20e siècle.
Photographie Aspect politique États-Unis.
Documentary photography.
Photography.
Photography Political aspects.
Fotografie.
Politieke aspecten.
Documentaire fotografie.
Koude Oorlog.
United States.
1930-1960

Form/genre:

History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 208755
Call No.: TR23 .B48 1999
Status: Available