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A Study of the Work of Alfred Stieglitz and Jacob A. Riis

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A Study of the Work of Alfred Stieglitz and Jacob A. Riis University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1981 The photographer as educator : a study of the work of Alfred Stieglitz and Jacob A. Riis. Kathryn E. Carlson University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Carlson, Kathryn E., "The photographer as educator : a study of the work of Alfred Stieglitz and Jacob A. Riis." (1981). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 3644. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/3644 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PHOTOGRAPHER AS EDUCATOR: A STUDY OF THE WORK OF ALFRED STIEGLITZ AND JACOB A. RIIS A Dissertation Presented By KATHRYN E. CARLSON Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION February 1981 Education Kathryn E. Carlson © 1981 All Rights Reserved 11 THE PHOTOGRAPHER AS EDUCATOR: A STUDY OF ALFRED STIEGLITZ AND JACOB A. RIIS A DissertatioQ Presented By KATHRYN E. CARLSON Approved as to style and content by: Mario D. Fantini, D^an School of Education iii DEDICATION To my parents IV . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to gratefully acknowledge the ideas, suggestions, and interest offered by my committee members: Byrd Jones, Judithe Speidel, and Mark Roskill. 1 would also like to thank my friends who read and responded to the manuscript at various points in its evolution: Terry Allen, Robert Blake, Nancy Gadzuk, and Elise Turner V I would like to thank Miss Georgia O'Keeffe and Mr. David Schoonover, Curator of the Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, for granting me permission to quote material from the Alfred Stieglitz Archives. VI Abstract THE PHOTOGRAPHER AS EDUCATOR: A STUDY OF THE WORK OF ALFRED STIEGLITZ AND JACOB A. RIIS February 1981 Kathryn E. Carlson, B.A. , University of Massachusetts Ed.D., University of Massachusetts Directed by: Professor Byrd Jones This study focuses on the careers of two photographers, Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) and Jacob A. Riis (1849-1914), and examines their work in terms of its educative intentions, content, and consequences. Stieglitz and Riis did not occupy traditional peda- gogical roles in schools or universities, but nonetheless they assumed positions of influence and sought to inform and shape the values and actions of their contemporaries. They occupied formative positions within two traditions of photography which have evolved around their respective concerns: photography as a means of social analysis and criticism, and photography as a fine art. As a journalist and seminal figure in the social reform movement of the late 19th century in America, Riis was among the first photo- graphers in this country to see the potential of the photograph as a direct means of social criticism. By documenting the tenement house conditions of New York City (primarily in the 1880' s and early broad campaign for 1890' s), Riis introduced his photographs into a vii s urban reform. Responding to social tensions caused by urbanization and immigration, he used the dominant systems of communication and nonformal education to disseminate information, advocate tenement house improvements, and argue for a more humane approach to the problem of urban poverty. This study concentrates on Riis's career from the late 1880' to the early 1890' s. During that period, he presented his photographs as lantern slides in a series of public lectures. These lectures subsequently became the content of a book in 1890, entitled How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York. As an artist, intellectual, and leader of avant-garde movements in art, Alfred Stieglitz responded to a less tangible problem and sought to teach a more elusive principle--an appreciation of con- temporary art. Aware of the psychological and perceptual reorienta- tion which the beginning of the twentieth century signaled, Stieglitz worked outside of the mainstream of popular culture and established his own alternative network for monitoring cultural changes, contrib- uting to them, and conveying their meaning to an often less than appreciative public. Although Stieglitz worked on many fronts, this study concen- trates on the years between 1890-1917 during which he founded the radical photographic group, the Photo-Secession, published the and directed the controversial art innovative quarterly Camera Work , the gallery "291" which became increasingly devoted to displaying work of the European and American avant-garde. viii The thesis of this study is that through their public activities and the nature of their photographic images, Riis and Steiglitz exerted a significant intellectual and ethical influence on their contemporaries and essentially functioned as teachers within the context of nonformal education. The work of both men is analyzed according to their primary messages, their strategies for conveying them, and the implications of their work. In addition to accounts of their projects, the study also traces the educational implications of the photographic images in America during the years leading up to the contributions of Riis and Stieglitz. The study concludes that Riis and Stieglitz exemplify not only two divergent attitudes toward photography but that they also reflect complementary attitudes toward knowledge and teaching. Riis insisted that his contemporaries become more politically engaged, assume re- sponsibility for improving social conditions, and collaboratively work on solving problems in society. Whereas Riis insisted on a sustained and vigorous look outward, into social conditions, Stieglitz invited individuals to reflect more on the process of self-education, the development of individual judgment, insight, and means of self- expression. IX TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. INTRODUCTION I Statement of the Problem and Significance of the Study j The Scope of the Study 4 II. VISIONS OF PROTEST 14 The Making of Two Americans 16 The Photograph in America circa 1890: Images, Audience, and Impact 25 In the Streets: Riis and Stieglitz Portray the City 37 Footnotes 45 III. JACOB A. RIIS 48 The Message: Toward "a Thoroughly Enlightened Public Sentiment" 50 The Strategy: "I Wrote but It Seemed to Make No Impression" 59 The Audience 64 "How the Other Half Lives": the Book 66 "How the Other Half Lives": the Lecture 67 Impact: The "Other Half" Begins to Learn 80 Footnotes 83 IV. ALFRED STIEGLITZ 88 The Message: "To Be Taught the Real Meaning of Art" 88 The Audience 96 The Strategy: "A New Vision Supplanting the Dead" 103 Camera Work 110 291 Fifth Avenue: "An Experimental Station" lib The Armory Show and Its Implications 124 The Consequences 128 Footnotes 134 X V. THE PHOTOGRAPHER AS EDUCATOR 137 Advocacy and Aesthetics: Photographic Variations J3g Crusader and Artist: Pedagogical Variations 1^2 Footnotes NOTES ON SOURCES 158 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 166 XI CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Statement of the Problem and Significance of the Study Photography is the most protean and overworked visual medium in modern society. It is not surprising therefore that its relation- ship to education has been unsettled. Almost everyone makes and views photographs; original prints and reproductions are a constant part of our environment as illustrations, private documents, historical and bureaucratic records, advertisements, entertainment, decoration, and art. Educators have received relatively little help in determining what they need to know about the private and public uses of the medium. There have been few guidelines to clarify for them the value of teaching photography in schools, and even fewer resources which relate the history of the medium to educational theory and practice. The visual literacy advocates of the late 1960 's and early '70s probably did more harm than good by promising a theoretical basis for photography in education which never fully evolved, and which did not attract enough serious scholarship. The failure of the visual literacy movement, coupled with a more recent "back to basics" trend has put photography in a tenuous position: it is often viewed as anti-intellectual, anti- literary territory, and it is often assumed that the time spent 2 making or viewing photographs is time stolen from writing, speak- ing, disciplined inquiry, and the development of intellect. This study seeks to demonstrate that historically the goals of photographers and of educators have not been as estranged as they are currently perceived to be. By focusing on aspects of the history of the medium's development in the United States, and on the careers of two specific photographers, my intention is to explore and emphasize a neglected link between American education and American photography. I am examining the ways in which certain photographers have intended to inform their contemporaries about social and cultural problems, and in doing so have functioned as teachers within the context of nonformal public education. My purpose is to call attention to instances in which photographers have been responsive to the ongoing need for public education by informing their contemporaries about social conditions, intellect-
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