Paul Strand was an amazing photographer and captured many
elements. However, toward the end of his
life, the still-life photographs he took in his garden. Fall in Movement (1973) is not as famous or
well known as his other bodies of work. There were never enough garden
photographs in one place. Strand did not
begin his career by shooting nature, but candid portraits of everyday people on
the street and things in his home.
His close-ups became famous because of their abstract
qualities. During vacations and summers,
Strand would photograph natural designs instead of artificial still lifes
because of the natural qualities they revealed.
His infatuation grew into an obsession and Strand realized that whenever
the breeze stopped, the objects he was shooting resumed their previous
position. * He discovered that if he
opened the shutter only during lulls of the breeze. His negatives would be sharp as if no wind
messed with the shot at all. Strand’s
secret elevated his self-confidence and began to connect nature to human
existence. His objective attitude
reflected in his photographs.
In the 1920’s Strand’s focus changed and he concentrated on
buildings, objects, and landscapes. The
following decade, Strand completed his work in Mexico where his photographs
were taken with a hidden mirror on his lens.
His later works were of head-on portraits of strangers. These images were dynamic. He was able to
capture these individuals as they “were.” There was no direction or manipulation
involved. It was Straight photography in the purest sense. Strand focused and reflected on their
differences and independence from his own.
* Travis, David. “Paul Strand’s ‘Fall in
Movement’.” Art Institute of Chicago
Museum Studies, Vol. 19, Issue 2 (January 1, 1993): 187-207.
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