The Big Project

          For the big project this term I chose to write about and take photos like Paul Strand. He took his photos in black and white. I personally like most pictures in black and white and I just like the style of photos that Strand takes. I have already published some of my Paul Strand photos on my blog, but I plan to take a lot more. Now I'm going to tell you a little about Paul Strand's life and how he started his career. Paul Strand was born in New York in 1890 and died in 1976 at the age of 86. Lewis Hine was Strand's photography teacher and started teaching him when he was 17 years old. Hine was already a famed photographer. Alfred Stieglitz had a gallery called the 291 Gallery and it was in New York. Paul and Alfred became acquaintances and Stieglitz helped him with his studies. Later on, Paul was introduced to the capabilities of  the large format camera, also know as "straight photography". From the 1920's to the 1930's Strand had changed his career's path and went into cinematography. In 1934, Paul helped found Frontier Films which was a company that filmed documentaries. Two years later, Paul met with Berenice Abbott to create the Photo League of New York. Their main purpose was to provide the socialist press with union activities and political protests. In the early 1950's, Paul moved to Europe and spent six weeks in northern Italy and a few days off the northwest coast of Scotland where he documented families in poverty. In the 1960's, he also went to north and west Africa to document there lives. His work led him to be a pioneer of the 20th century who changed lives with his photography.