A Staggering Revolution: A Cultural History of Thirties Photography

14. Photography at High Tide

14 Photography at High Tide “Vigorous and Rowdy” Shows Beginning฀in฀฀a฀new฀kind฀of฀exhibition฀made฀artful฀photography฀accessible฀ to฀unprecedented฀numbers฀of฀viewers.฀Polyglot฀extravaganzas฀composed฀of฀ many฀hundreds฀and฀in฀one฀case฀thousands฀of฀exhibits,฀they฀attracted฀enormous฀ crowds฀to฀spaces฀dissimilar฀to฀the฀galleries฀and฀museums฀where฀art฀is฀ordinarily฀ displayed—in฀New฀York฀to฀Rockefeller฀Center฀and฀the฀giant฀exposition฀hall฀ of฀the฀Grand฀Central฀Palace,฀to฀department฀stores฀and฀cultural฀institutions฀ in฀provincial฀cities,฀and฀to฀the฀World’s฀Fair฀in฀San฀Francisco.฀Every฀year฀of฀ the฀latter฀half฀of฀the฀thirties฀witnessed฀at฀least฀one฀huge฀show,฀most฀traveling฀ to฀scores฀of฀locations.฀Underwritten฀by฀ad฀hoc฀organizations฀or฀frankly฀commercial ฀ones,฀their฀sponsorship฀also฀differed฀from฀the฀usual฀auspices฀for฀the฀ fine฀arts.฀These฀exhibitions฀further฀democratized฀photography’s฀art฀world,฀ enlarging฀its฀spectatorship฀and฀continental฀reach,฀and฀their฀frequency฀and฀ 277 Photography at High Tide popularity฀marked฀a฀unique—and฀as฀it฀turned฀out,฀transitory—moment฀in฀the฀ reinvigorated฀medium’s฀relationship฀with฀its฀audience. ฀ U.S.฀Camera฀annually฀sponsored฀a฀massive฀exhibition,฀opening฀in฀the฀autumn฀ for฀two฀weeks฀at฀Rockefeller฀Center฀and฀then฀traveling฀to฀some฀seventy-five฀cities ฀across฀the฀nation.฀The฀publication’s฀two฀hundred฀or฀so฀pictures฀composed฀its฀ nucleus,฀augmented฀by฀five฀hundred฀semifinalists฀identified฀by฀Thomas฀Maloney฀ and฀Edward฀Steichen฀as฀meritorious฀but฀not฀published฀for฀want฀of฀space.฀Amateurs฀ constituted฀perhaps฀฀percent฀of฀the฀additions,฀giving฀them฀the฀gratifying฀experience ฀of฀showing฀alongside฀the฀professionals฀dominating฀the฀annual.฀The฀mingling฀ of฀amateur฀and฀professional฀work฀also฀reflected฀photography’s฀democratic฀basis฀and฀ the฀buoyant฀but฀yet฀unsettled฀nature฀of฀its฀art฀world,฀loosed฀from฀the฀tight฀controls฀ of฀its฀past฀but฀not฀yet฀fully฀professionalized฀nor฀dominated฀by฀a฀few฀tastemakers฀ and฀institutions. ฀ Just฀one฀year฀after฀the฀first฀U.S.฀Camera฀exhibition฀Literary฀Digest฀would฀unequivocally ฀declare฀its฀annual฀editions฀to฀be฀“the฀show฀all฀photographers฀aspire฀to.”฀Nor฀ were฀they฀important฀only฀to฀amateurs;฀most฀leading฀workers฀participated฀because,฀ as฀Dorothea฀Lange฀put฀it,฀U.S.฀Camera฀was฀“the฀most฀important฀photography฀ show฀we฀have.”฀They฀were฀much฀anticipated฀events฀for฀audiences,฀too,฀and฀drew฀ an฀immense฀crush฀of฀attendees.฀Fifty฀thousand฀thronged฀to฀Rockefeller฀Center฀to฀ see฀the฀฀version,฀and฀it฀then฀attracted฀enthusiastic฀crowds฀in฀the฀hinterlands.฀ They฀were฀“vigorous฀and฀rowdy”฀events,฀marveled฀one฀visitor.฀“You฀shove฀and฀ elbow฀your฀way฀in.฀None฀of฀the฀muted฀art฀gallery฀whisper฀here.฀These฀pictures฀are฀ to฀be฀enjoyed฀and฀shouted฀over.”1 ฀ Their฀uninhibited฀atmosphere฀militated฀against฀the฀intimidated฀awe฀that฀more฀ hallowed฀exhibition฀spaces฀could฀induce,฀and฀attendees฀unabashedly฀assumed฀their฀ prerogative฀to฀make฀judgments.฀Eavesdropping฀at฀Rockefeller฀Center,฀a฀journalist฀ overheard฀spirited฀debates฀about฀the฀exhibits’฀virtues฀and฀failings,฀so฀lively฀he฀made฀ snapshots฀of฀animated฀disputants฀to฀illustrate฀his฀piece.฀Snooping฀allowed฀him฀to฀ assess฀favorites.฀“It฀is฀generally฀conceded฀that฀Steichen฀is฀the฀master฀of฀them฀all,”฀ he฀reported,฀but฀at฀least฀a฀half-dozen฀other฀exhibitors฀also฀awed฀visitors,฀BourkeWhite ’s฀black฀stevedore฀resting฀against฀bags฀of฀coffee฀on฀a฀wharf฀a฀particular฀favorite.฀ “Better฀than฀any฀photographer฀in฀America,฀[she]฀has฀the฀capacity฀to฀dramatize฀the฀ ordinary,”฀he฀exclaimed.฀But฀the฀show’s฀“technical฀and฀artistic฀sensation,”฀he฀said,฀ was฀Paul฀Outerbridge’s฀color฀work,฀especially฀his฀figure฀studies.฀A฀subsequent฀vote฀ ratified฀this฀impressionistic฀assessment,฀attendees฀denominating฀his฀pictures฀their฀ favorites.฀The฀poll฀was฀yet฀another฀way฀U.S.฀Camera’s฀differed฀from฀traditional฀ exhibitions,฀which฀rarely฀solicit฀visitors’฀opinions.2 ฀ Newspapers฀brought฀the฀shows฀to฀an฀even฀wider฀audience.฀Hungry฀for฀pictures,฀ they฀regularly฀reproduced฀exhibits฀and฀editorially฀assessed฀their฀significance.฀The฀ 278 A Staggering Revolution Kansas฀City฀Star฀believed฀that฀the฀฀version฀revealed฀“a฀year฀of฀photographic฀ plenty”฀and฀predicted฀that฀viewers฀would฀feel฀“curiosity฀and฀awe”;฀the฀Buffalo฀News฀ encouraged฀readers฀to฀see฀its฀“wire-sharp,฀dynamic฀pictures฀of฀life”;฀and฀the฀New฀ Haven฀Register฀observed฀that฀it฀proved฀the฀medium฀“has฀reached฀a฀point฀where฀ it฀may฀be฀called฀an฀art.”3 ฀More฀enthusiastic฀than฀acute,฀these฀notices฀nonetheless฀ fostered฀the฀perception฀that฀something฀extraordinary฀was฀going฀on฀in฀American฀ photography฀and฀U.S.฀Camera฀shows฀provided฀an฀unparalleled฀opportunity฀to฀participate ฀in฀it. ฀ More฀ambitious฀to฀assert฀critical฀authority฀were฀two฀New฀York฀Times฀Magazine฀ pieces฀by฀H.฀I.฀Brock,฀whose฀flat-footedness฀and฀cottony฀abstractions฀belied฀the฀ authority฀he฀claimed...