A Staggering Revolution: A Cultural History of Thirties Photography

11. The Nation's Newsstands

11 The Nation’s Newsstands “I Learned the Bases of What Little I Knew from Coronet” One฀of฀John฀Vachon’s฀strongest฀pictures฀in฀a฀฀survey฀of฀Omaha฀depicts฀a฀ central฀city฀newsstand,฀its฀scores฀of฀magazines฀in฀serried฀ranks,฀a฀subject฀identical ฀to฀Berenice฀Abbott’s฀in฀Changing฀New฀York.฀Besides฀wanting฀to฀illustrate฀ contemporary฀preoccupations,฀both฀photographers฀were฀drawn฀to฀the฀formal฀ potential฀of฀orderly฀repetition฀within฀difference฀and฀by฀the฀implicit฀reflexivity฀ magazines’฀covers฀offered,฀their฀glamour฀shots฀a฀contrast฀to฀documentary’s฀ plain-speaking.฀Vachon’s฀and฀Abbott’s฀newsstands฀dramatized฀the฀thirties฀as฀ effulgent฀with฀magazines,฀especially฀ones฀featuring฀photographs.1 ฀ Most฀pictures฀published฀by฀magazines฀aspired฀only฀to฀be฀timely฀and฀illustrative ,฀but฀a฀significant฀minority฀transcended฀competent฀journeyman฀efforts.฀ Camera฀periodicals฀specialized฀in฀this฀more฀ambitious฀work฀as฀did฀Coronet,฀ a฀popular฀new฀magazine฀emphasizing฀the฀visual฀arts,฀but฀other฀publications฀ 195 The Nation’s Newsstands featured฀it฀too.฀Westways,฀the฀magazine฀of฀the฀Automobile฀Club฀of฀Southern฀California ,฀disseminated฀over฀two฀years฀some฀฀of฀Edward฀Weston’s฀new฀landscapes฀to฀its฀ more฀than฀a฀hundred฀thousand฀readers,฀and฀Survey฀Graphic’s฀subscribers฀regularly฀ saw฀Farm฀Security฀Administration฀(FSA)฀photographs฀in฀its฀pages.฀Occasionally฀ such฀superior฀pictures฀even฀showed฀up฀in฀the฀most฀widely฀circulated฀publications.฀ Life฀ran฀three฀articles฀on฀Weston’s฀Guggenheim฀project฀and฀another฀on฀Abbott’s฀New฀ York฀photographs,฀and฀Look฀gave฀the฀Photo฀League’s฀Harlem฀Document฀national฀ visibility.฀With฀Margaret฀Bourke-White,฀the฀decade’s฀best-known฀photojournalist,฀ it฀worked฀the฀other฀way฀around.฀Her฀pictures฀were฀first฀seen฀in฀the฀Luce฀magazines ฀and฀then฀featured฀in฀exhibitions.฀That฀was฀also฀true฀of฀photographs฀from฀the฀ “quality”฀magazines฀Vogue,฀Vanity฀Fair,฀and฀Harper’s฀Bazaar,฀Edward฀Steichen’s฀ especially,฀but฀by฀other฀fashion฀specialists฀as฀well.฀Among฀the฀distinctive฀features฀ of฀thirties฀photography฀was฀the฀intermingling฀of฀the฀usually฀discrete฀realms฀of฀an฀ art฀world฀and฀popular฀journalism฀to฀a฀degree฀unknown฀before฀or฀since.฀What฀made฀ this฀possible฀was฀the฀nation’s฀tremendous฀interest฀in฀artful฀photography฀and฀the฀ circulation฀of฀such฀images฀to฀hundreds฀of฀thousands฀of฀viewers. ฀ Until฀its฀demise฀in฀฀Vanity฀Fair฀was฀among฀the฀most฀determined฀purveyors฀ to฀the฀degree฀that฀one฀photography฀historian฀claims฀that฀its฀(and฀Vogue’s)฀publisher฀ Condé฀Nast฀supplanted฀Alfred฀Stieglitz฀as฀the฀“principal฀benefactor฀to฀photographers .”฀Steichen’s฀sleek฀portraits฀gave฀Vanity฀Fair฀much฀of฀its฀panache,฀but฀others ฀by฀such฀exhibition฀veterans฀as฀Abbott,฀Imogen฀Cunningham,฀Man฀Ray,฀Lee฀ Miller,฀Doris฀Ulmann,฀and฀Weston฀also฀fed฀its฀ravenous฀appetite฀for฀personalities.฀ Celebrity฀portraits฀dominated,฀but฀Vanity฀Fair฀also฀made฀space฀for฀other฀sorts฀of฀ pictures.฀At฀the฀same฀moment฀Steichen’s฀view฀of฀the฀George฀Washington฀Bridge฀ greeted฀visitors฀to฀MoMA’s฀photomural฀exhibition฀it฀also฀appeared฀in฀the฀magazine.฀ Bourke-White’s฀studies฀of฀the฀Soviet฀Five-Year฀Plan,฀on฀exhibition฀at฀the฀John฀ Becker฀Gallery,฀could฀be฀seen฀in฀Vanity฀Fair,฀too,฀as฀could฀exhibits฀from฀Stieglitz’s฀ retrospective฀at฀An฀American฀Place.฀Just฀as฀Group฀f.฀announced฀Peter฀Stackpole฀ as฀its฀newest฀member฀the฀magazine฀launched฀his฀publishing฀career฀with฀his฀studies฀ of฀San฀Francisco’s฀new฀bridges.฀Another฀making฀her฀debut฀was฀Louise฀Dahl-Wolfe฀ with฀an฀atmospheric฀study฀of฀an฀elderly฀farm฀woman,฀“The฀Smokey฀Mountaineer ,”฀later฀exhibited฀at฀MoMA.฀Vanity฀Fair’s฀dedication฀inspired฀one฀subscriber’s฀ enthusiastic฀testimonial฀to฀the฀cultural฀function฀the฀magazine฀served.฀“Vanity฀Fair,”฀ she฀wrote,฀“is฀the฀only฀magazine฀in฀the฀country฀where฀we฀can฀find฀beautiful฀photographs ฀of฀this฀type,฀without฀buying฀a฀regular฀‘art’฀magazine.”2 ฀ Such฀an฀art฀magazine฀was฀Creative฀Art.฀Tasteful,฀well-illustrated,฀and฀expensive฀ at฀seventy-five฀cents,฀it฀mostly฀centered฀on฀painting฀and฀sculpture฀but฀made฀room฀for฀ a฀few฀photography฀pieces฀before฀it฀expired฀in฀,฀a฀victim฀of฀hard฀times.฀Besides฀ Abbott’s฀article฀introducing฀Eugène฀Atget฀it฀ran฀appreciations฀of฀Walker฀Evans,฀ Charles฀Sheeler,฀Steichen,฀Paul฀Strand฀(twice),฀and฀Paul฀Outerbridge.฀The฀pieces฀ 196 A Staggering Revolution abstractly฀itemized฀each฀photographer’s฀distinguishing฀characteristics—Sheeler’s฀ “language฀of฀art,”฀Strand’s฀“triumphant฀impersonality”฀and฀“objective฀sensuousness ”—usually฀attempting฀to฀align฀them฀with฀European฀artistic฀traditions,฀whether฀ Steichen’s฀“odd฀mixture฀of฀Delacroix฀and฀Cézanne,”฀Outerbridge’s฀affinities฀with฀ “the฀French฀school฀of฀modern฀painting,”฀or฀Evans’s฀study฀in฀France฀of฀“modern ฀Continental฀methods”฀that฀led฀him฀to฀“[spend]฀some฀time฀in฀experimenting.”฀ Although฀inviting฀respectful฀attention฀to...