I've never understood why "The Steerage" has persisted as an iconic image. Visually it is confusing, and the original intent of illustrating the difference between classes is long gone (in those 19th century clothes, they all look alike to me -- although no doubt to a person from the era they would be immediately distinguishable to their socio-economic class).
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
I think that photo is slightly overrated too compared to some of the other pictorialist photos. What it had going for it was that it bridged some of the big gap where pictorialism mostly didn't deal with social issues as subject matter. It also introduced some of the modern styles (but not nearly as strongly as Coburn)
I shared the link because I'd like to see an original "camera work" volume not just photos cut from it, and the 70-something photos probably comprise a variety of alternative processes.
In fact Stieglitz did not recognize it as an iconic pictorialist picture either until one of his mate's some years later pointed out the white hat. He then printed it entirely differently and then back dated his ability to previsualize.
"Some photographers, clustered around Clarence White, continued to make painterly photographs. Others, particularly Steichen and Strand, adopted “straight” photography and developed the Modernist idiom."
I particularly take umbrage from this sentence, White's influence was strong amongst many of the modernists not in the Stieglitz lineage.
I just hope this exhibition comes west. It looks like a great show.
Thanks for posting this JP. I will try to get over to Springfield for this show.
Dave
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