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Rangefinder Magazine
February 2001
Photography Hall of Fame Announces Latest Inductees
Stacy Webb and Lori Oden
Preserving the history of photography and honoring the men and women who
have made great advances in the industry is the mission of the International
Photography Hall of Fame and Museum. Currently there are 52 of these individuals
representing the best of the best. The most recent Hall of Fame Inductees
will be honored during a ceremony February 3, in Oklahoma City.
More than 25 individuals were considered for nomination by the National
Board of Directors for the Photographic Art and Science Foundation, which
governs the Photography Hall of Fame. Extensive research was conducted
along with opinion polls from curators, photographers and art historians.
Three people; Lewis Hine, Berenice Abbott and Henri-Cartier Bresson, were
selected for Induction into the International Photography Hall of Fame.
Each Hall of Fame Inductee is honored with a large format panel on display
in the IPHF galleries. The biographical panels include text and photographs
featuring their images or contributions to photographic technology. Inductee
panels are sponsored by individuals or companies who finance the production
of the panels and their perpetual care.
Foveon, Inc. of Santa Clara, California is the IPHF Inductee Panel Sponsor
for Henri Cartier-Bresson, Joseph Lust Photographers, Inc. of Virginia
Beach, Virginia is sponsoring the Inductee Panel for Berenice Abbott and
Ramsey Resources of St. Louis, Missouri is the Inductee Panel Sponsor
for Lewis Hine.
The Inductees...
Henri Cartier-Bresson: Known as the master of the moment, Henri Cartier-Bresson
became interested in photography while studying painting at Cambridge.
He was born in Chanteloup, France in 1908. Influenced by his father, a
textile merchant and his uncle, an accomplished painter, Cartier-Bresson
showed interest in the arts from an early age. Restless with conservatism,
he sought the ranks of many artists who began to experiment with furthering
the theory of art. During his studies in England, Cartier-Bresson was
introduced to film and photography.
Cartier-Bresson purchased his first of many hand held Leica cameras in
1931 and began his career in photography. For me the camera is a sketchbook,
an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant,
which in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. Roaming the
streets, he would photograph moments most eyes would surpass, but to him
these were the true moments of human existence.
Cartier-Bresson began to travel with much of his work published in magazines.
Gallery exhibitions soon followed as well as work on documentary films.
However, war began to break out and he joined the French military as a
photographer. He was captured in 1937 by the Germans. Three years later
he escaped and with his experiences came a new perception of life and
a new photographic series of portraiture. Cartier-Bresson’s post-war
portraiture is considered to be his most successful works, highlighted
in the publication Tete a Tete.
Working with photographers Robert Capa, Bill Vandivert, George Rodger
and David Seymour “Chim,” Cartier-Bresson founded Magnum in
1947. Henri Cartier-Bresson has received numerous awards and has been
featured in many exhibitions around the world. He has authored or been
the subject of several books, which include; The Mind’s Eye, Portfolio,
Mexican Notebooks, Masters of Photography and A Propos de Paris. He currently
resides in France where he has spent the last several decades enjoying
his first love, painting.
Berenice Abbott: Remembered as one of the most independent, determined
and respected photographers, Berenice Abbott began her career in photography
by being in the right dark room at the right time. She was born July 17,
1898 in Springfield, Ohio. Her determined spirit may have come early to
her as she has stated her childhood was not a happy one.
Abbott dropped out of the Ohio State University journalism department
after only two weeks. She moved to New York City in 1918 where she became
involved in the Greenwich Village theatre crowd. Abbott enrolled at Columbia
University to continue her journalism degree, but once again became frustrated
with the school system and dropped out. Playing minor roles in the theatre,
Abbott and many of her acting friends became sick with the Spanish flu.
She recovered after six weeks, however, many of her friends died from
the illness.
A possible career in sculpture led Abbott to Paris in 1921. Two years
later she moved again to Berlin where she studied drawing techniques and
sculpture and taught dancing. However, by 1924 she was back in Paris where
was met by her friend from New York, Man Ray. Abbott became his darkroom
assistant, despite having no interest in becoming a photographer. She
quickly found herself enjoying the photographic process and with encouragement
from Man Ray, she began to take photographs.
Reimbursing Man Ray for materials she used for her portrait photography
soon became more than her paycheck as his assistant. Her reputation grew
as a photographer and eventually Abbott and Man Ray parted ways. Within
one year she opened her own portrait studio. Abbott’s first solo
exhibition was in June of 1926. She also did freelance work for Paris
Vogue and other magazines.
While in Paris Abbott became familiar with photographer Eugene Atget.
She admired his work and after his death is credited for acquiring his
more than 1500 glass plate negatives and 8000 prints as well as promoting
his photography. Abbott returned to New York in 1929 and with the influence
of Atget she began to photograph the city. She maintained a portrait studio
to finance her portfolio and was published by Vanity Fair, The Saturday
Review of Literature, The Saturday Evening Post, Theater Guild Magazine
and Fortune.
In 1941, after publishing her book, Changing New York, Abbott published
A Guide to Better Photography. The book provided insight and technical
expertise. The scientific world also took notice of her work when she
fought to have better photography examples in science textbooks. Abbott
continued her own work through the 1950’s as well as continued to
promote Atget. Her determination to promote not only her images but others
who she respected helped advance the industry in a very unique way. Photography
can never grow up if it imitates some other medium. It has to walk alone,
it has to be itself.
Lewis Hine: Lewis Hine is best known for inspiring social reform through
his photography. He was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in September of 1874.
After his father died in 1892, Hine supported his family by working in
an upholstery factory for only four dollars per week. Here he experienced
the plight of the working class and the exploitation of their children.
Determined to escape poverty, Hine took university extension courses.
He became a teacher and eventually was appointed the nature study and
geography educator at the Ethical Culture School in New York. The superintendent
asked Hine to be the school’s photographer and document the social
and academic life of the students. He soon realized the power of photography
to reveal truth and reality.
Documenting the arrival of immigrants at Ellis Island was one of Hine’s
first projects. This inspired him to continue in photography and also
begin teaching classes at the school. He published several articles for
promoting photography as an educational tool. New contacts quickly led
Hine to become a freelance photographer for the National Child Labor Committee,
which promoted the enactment of child labor laws.
Hine traveled the Northeast to the far South visiting factories, mines,
fields and canneries where he would pose as a salesman or industrial machine
photographer to gain access to the workers. The impact of his images were
immediate. Published in magazines, pamphlets and shown in slide lectures,
government officials were convinced to create new labor laws.
He later continued his career in documenting the human condition as a
photographer for the American Red Cross in WW II, the Tenement House Commission,
The New Deal Agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Works Progress
Administration.
One of Hine’s most famous commissions was his portfolio documenting
the construction of the Empire State Building. He would achieve certain
aerial views of men working by hanging from cherry pickers 100 stories
high. Images from this and other projects were published in the book Men
at Work.
Despite his contributions through his photography, Hine remained practically
unknown in his later years. Hine refused to give up ownership of his negatives
therefore was denied many opportunities, including to work with Roy Stryker
who led the project documenting the people of the depression. Berenice
Abbott respected Hine’s photography and helped to organize a retrospective
exhibition which re-exposed him as a photographic artist before his death
in 1940.
The Ceremony
The Photography Hall of Fame will hold the Induction Ceremony, Saturday,
February 3 from 6pm to 9pm. The reception includes an exhibition of photographs
by Ernst Haas in the Main Gallery and the unveiling of the IPHF Duratrans.
The Duratrans, which measures 26 by 6 feet, is the largest one-piece transparency
in the world. Materials are donated by Eastman Kodak and Chromatech Corporation
in Wichita, Kansas produces the image. Chromatech President, Shari Bevan
and Vice President of Operations, Ron Wilson and their imaging lab staff
must move equipment to a warehouse to accommodate the incredible size
of the job. The image is produced from a 6 x 17cm negative. Photographer
Jeremy Woodhouse was chosen for the Duratrans featuring his panoramic
image of African Elephants at a watering hole.
The Professional Photographers of Oklahoma will be holding their annual
convention and trade show the same weekend. If you would like further
information on these events and if you are interested in attending please
call (405) 424-4055.
Stacy Webb is the director of the International Photography Hall of Fame,
Lori Oden is the IPHF curator.
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