(Vicki Goldberg) ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENS
THROUGHOUT THIS CENTURY IS THAT PEOPLE ARE BEGINNING
TO DEPEND MORE AND MORE ON VISUAL SOURCES.
I DON'T KNOW THAT MANY PEOPLE
THOUGHT ABOUT IT A LOT,
BUT PHOTOGRAPHS ARE COMING MORE AND MORE INTO THEIR LIVES.
IT BECAME A LANGUAGE THAT EVERYBODY KNEW THEY COULD SPEAK.
PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES CHANGED EVERYBODY'S UNDERSTANDING
ABOUT NOT ONLY WHAT THE WORLD LOOKED LIKE
BUT WHAT NEWS WAS.
(Hal Buell) PHOTOGRAPHY HAS A CERTAIN SELECTIVE NATURE
THAT WILL TAKE AN INSTANT
AND MAYBE LIFT IT UP OUT OF THE ORDINARY,
AND THEREFORE MAKE BUMPS IN HISTORY
THAT YOU WOULDN'T FIND THERE IF IT WERE NOT FOR PHOTOGRAPHY.
THAT MOMENT IN TIME WHEN
THAT SPANISH CIVIL WAR SOLDIER
IS SHOT AND BENDS BACK.
CAN YOU EVER ERASE
THAT IMAGE FROM YOUR MIND?
CAN ANYONE EVER SAY, "ALL RIGHT I SAW IT,
"I DON'T HAVE TO SEE IT AGAIN?
I DON'T REMEMBER?"
(Dan Czitrom) BY 1930, PEOPLE REALLY THINK THAT THE PHOTOGRAPH
IS THE MOST TRUSTWORTHY SOURCE OF INFORMATION.
IT'S THE THING THEY WANT MOST.
IT'S THE THING THEY BELIEVE IN MOST.
THERE'S NO QUESTION THAT MOST ORDINARY AMERICANS
HAVE BEEN SOCIALIZED IN A WAY THAT SAYS
THAT SEEING IS BELIEVING,
AND THE PHOTOGRAPH IS THE MOST ACCURATE WAY TO SEE.
[shutter click]
[orchestral fanfare-- full & bright]
♪ ♪
(male announcer) AND NOW, THE LATEST MIRACLE OF NEWS GATHERING. . .
SENDING PICTURES BY WIRE HAS LIFTED THE CURTAIN
ON A NEW ERA IN NEWSPAPER HISTORY.
(man) GOOD EVENING TOKYO.
(2nd man) WE'RE FOLLOWING UP ON THE TOURIST ATTACK IN. . .
(male narrator) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
ROCKEFELLER CENTER, NEW YORK CITY.
EACH DAY, THOUSANDS OF PHOTOGRAPHS
COME IN FROM AROUND THE WORLD.
THEY ARRIVE VIA TELEPHONE LINE AND SATELLITE LINK,
MINUTES AFTER THEY ARE TAKEN IN THE FIELD.
(man) KOSOVO IN COVERAGE CONTINUING.
(narrator) FROM HERE THEY'RE SELECTED AND DISTRIBUTED
TO NEWS ORGANIZATIONS AROUND THE WORLD.
[speaking Spanish]
IF NEWS HAPPENS ANYWHERE ON EARTH,
WE'LL SOON SEE A PICTURE OF IT.
THE NOTION THAT EVERYONE,
OR THAT MANY PEOPLE SEE
THE SAME PICTURE SIMULTANEOUSLY
IS A PURE 20TH-CENTURY EXPERIENCE.
NEVER DID YOU HAVE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WAKING UP
AND SEEING THE SAME PICTURES
AND SEEING THE SAME EVENTS PICTURED.
IT NEVER HAPPENED!
(Hal Buell) NEWS IS OF TODAY,
AND IT'S WHAT HAPPENED TODAY,
AND SO THE PICTURES
ALSO HAD TO BE OF WHAT HAPPENED TODAY,
AND IF THE PICTURES LAG BEHIND THE STORY BY ANY SIGNIFICANT
AMOUNT OF TIME, THE STORY IS OVER AND DONE WITH.
(narrator) IN THE 1930s, THE DAILY PAPER
WAS STILL THE WAY MOST AMERICANS GOT THE NEWS.
VISIONARIES AT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DECIDED THAT A PROCESS
MUST BE INVENTED TO TRANSMIT PICTURES AS QUICKLY AS WORDS.
THE SYSTEM REQUIRED A NETWORK OF HIGH FIDELITY TELEPHONE LINES,
AND WOULD BE EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE.
NEWSPAPER OWNERS, WHO WERE BEING ASKED TO PAY THE BILL,
WERE SKEPTICAL.
ROY HOWARD, HEAD OF THE SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER CHAI,
WAS CONVINCED THE WHOLE THING WAS A BIG MISTAKE.
"THERE AREN'T ENOUGH IMPORTANT PICTURES TAKEN
IN THE ENTIRE WORLD," HE SAID, "TO JUSTIFY THE EXPENSE."
BUT ON JANUARY 1, 1935, GROUPS OF TECHNICIANS HUDDLED
AROUND BLACK MACHINES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
THE FIRST TRANSMISSION--A DRAMATIC PHOTO OF A PLANE CRASH.
THE STILL-WET PRINT WAS WRAPPED AROUND THE CYLINDER.
THE ROTATING DRUM CONVERTED THE
PHOTOGRAPH'S BLACK AND WHITE TONES
INTO A WAVERING, HIGH-PITCHED SOUND.
IN 25 CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY,
25 CYLINDERS WERE ROTATING SIMULTANEOUSLY,
WHILE RECORDING THE IMAGE ON A PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE.
(Czitrom) AND THE DAY AFTER THE FIRST WIREPHOTO WAS SENT
WAS THE OPENING OF THE LINDBERGH MURDER KIDNAP TRIAL,
BRUNO HAUPTMANN GOING ON TRIAL
IN NEW JERSEY. THAT STORY
PRETTY MUCH SEALED
THE SUCCESS OF THE WIREPHOTO
BECAUSE IT BECAME CLEAR THAT, YES
THERE WERE A LOT OF INTERESTING PICTURES OUT THERE.
(narrator) IN THE FOLLOWING MONTHS,
SENSATIONAL NEWS PICTURES FLEW BACK AND FORTH
ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
AMELIA EARHART LANDING IN CALIFORNIA
AFTER FLYING NONSTOP FROM HONOLULU.
G-MEN SHOOTING MA BARKER IN A FURIOUS GUNFIGHT IN FLORIDA.
WILL ROGERS, THE FOLKSY PHILOSOPHER,
KILLED IN AN AIRPLANE CRASH IN ALASKA.
FROM THIS TIME ON, BIG EVENTS,
NO MATTER WHERE IN THE WORLD THEY OCCURRED,
WOULD BE PICTURED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF EVERYONE'S NEWSPAPER
ON THE SAME DAY.
(Buell) THE WHOLE ADVENT OF WIRE JOURNALISM,
BOTH STORIES AND PICTURES, TENDED TO MAKE THE U.S.
MORE OF A ONE COMMUNITY AS OPPOSED TO
A MORE REGIONALIZED NATION, WHICH IT WAS AT THAT TIME.
(narrator) IN 1937, THE ENTIRE COUNTRY WS RIVETED BY A HUGE NEWS STORY.
A STORY THAT AMERICANS COULD WITNESS ALMOST INSTANTLY,
BECAUSE OF WIREPHOTO.
(Marty Lederhandler) MURRAY BECKER, WHO WAS OUR CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
HAPPENED TO BE OUT AT LAKEHURST, WHEN THIS HINDENBURG
WAS COMING IN, AND MOST PHOTOGRAPHERS WAITED
IN THE WAITING ROOM BECAUSE THE
HINDENBURG HAD BEEN IN BEFORE
AND IT WAS JUST ANOTHER PICTURE
OF THE HINDENBURG COMING DOWN,
AND WE HAD PLENTY OF PICTURES, BUT ANYWAY,
HE DECIDED TO PUT UP THE CAMERA AS IT WAS COMING IN.
JUST AS HE HELD UP THE CAMERA, IT EXPLODED,
HE HIT THE TRIGGER.
HE GOT THE FIRST PUFF OF EXPLOSION ON THE HINDENBURG.
(Buell) MURRAY BECKER WAS USING A SPEED GRAPHIC.
A SPEED GRAPHIC IS A LARGE CAMERA THAT'S HELD WITH 2 HANDS,
AND THE WAY IT OPERATES IS THIS:
YOU PUT A HOLDER INTO THE CAMERA,
FULL OF FILM, YOU TAKE OUT A SLIDE
THAT EXPOSES THE FILM TO THE SHUTTER,
YOU PUT THE SLIDE ON THE BACK OF THE CAMERA,
YOU COCK THE SHUTTER, AND YOU MAKE THE PICTURE.
NOW YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE SLIDE BACK OUT,
YOU HAVE TO PUT IT IN THE HOLDER, YOU TAKE OUT THE HOLDER,
YOU TURN THE HOLDER OVER BECAUSE THERE'S A FILM ON THE OTHER SIDE,
YOU PUT IT IN THE CAMERA, YOU PULL THE SLIDE,
YOU PUT IT IN THE BACK, YOU COCK THE SHUTTER, AND YOU MAKE THE PICTURE.
THE HINDENBURG BURNED IN 47 SECONDS,
AND MURRAY DID THAT 3 TIMES.
SO THERE WAS THIS INSTANT OF EXPLOSION WHICH MURRAY PHOTOGRAPHED,
AND THEN AS THE HINDENBURG BURNED IN THOSE FEW SECONDS,
HE MADE 2 MORE PICTURES.
REMARKABLE PIECE OF CAMERA WORK.
(male radio announcer) THIS IS TERRIBLE, IT'S ONE OF THE WORST CATASTROPHES IN THE WORLD!
(almost crying) OH, IT'S ON FIRE, IT'S BURNING, OH,
4 OR 500 FEET INTO THE SKY, AD IT, IT'S A TERRIFIC SIGHT
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN-- THE SMOKE AND THE FLAMES NOW
AND IT'S CRASHING TO THE GROUND.
IT'S NOT QUITE TO THE MOORING MAST.
OH, THE HUMANITY. . .
(narrator) THE DAY THE HINDENBURG WENT DOWN,
THE IMAGE ECLIPSED THE WORDS.
FROM THEN ON, IT WASN'T REALLY NEWS
IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE A PICTURE.
[saxophone plays softly]
♪
[poof!!]
AS MUCH AS YOU WANT TO SEE PICTURES ABOUT NICE THINGS,
PEOPLE WANT TO SEE PICTURES OF HORRIBLE THINGS.
PEOPLE WANT TO SEE THE EXPLOSION,
PEOPLE WANT TO SEE THE MURDER,
PEOPLE WANT TO SEE THE CARNAGE,
PEOPLE WANT TO SEE DEATH,
PEOPLE WANT TO SEE ALL THE THINGS IN PICTURES
THAT ARE TOO SCARY IN LIFE TO DEAL WITH.
AND THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES IT
SO IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
BECAUSE IT LETS YOU SEE EVERYTHING,
IT LETS YOU THINK ABOUT EVERYTHING.
(narrator) ON NOVEMBER 23, 1936,
A NEW MAGAZINE APPEARED ON NEWSSTANDS.
PUBLISHER HENRY LUCE GAVE AMERICANS SOMETHING
THEY HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE--
A GLOSSY, LARGE-FORMAT NEWS MAGAZINE
WHICH USED PHOTOGRAPHS TO TELL ITS STORIES.
NEVER ONE TO THINK SMALL,
LUCE CALLED THE MAGAZINE
QUITE SIMPLY. . ."LIFE."
IT WAS THE BIGGEST MASS MARKET HIT
IN THE HISTORY OF PUBLISHING GOING BACK TO GUTENBERG.
NOTHING THAT EVER HAD BEEN PUBLISHED
WAS AS BIG AN IMMEDIATE SELLOUT.
AND IT JUST TOOK OVER!
WHY? BECAUSE IT SPOKE IN A LANGUAGE
THAT EVERYBODY COULD UNDERSTAND-- PICTURES.
(Richard Stolley) IT IS VERY HARD. . .
I MEAN WE'RE SO INUNDATED
WITH IMAGES NOW THAT
IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPREHEND
HOW LITTLE OF THAT EXISTED WHEN "LIFE" CAME OUT.
THERE'D MAYBE BE A PICTURE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEWSPAPER,
A FEW MAGAZINES WOULD RUN PICTURES,
NOTHING ARRIVED IN YOUR HOME
AND OPENED UP THE WORLD TO YOU.
THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT "LIFE" DID.
THE SUCCESS OF "LIFE," THE IMPACT IT HAD
I'M SURE SURPRISED THE ABSOLUTE HELL OUT OF THE PEOPLE
WHO LAUNCHED IT. I MEAN,
I THINK LUCE KNEW HE WAS ON TO SOMETHING.
(narrator) HENRY LUCE ALWAYS HAD A FASCINATION
WITH WHAT HE CALLED "PICTURE MAGIC."
TO INTRODUCE HIS NEW MAGAZINE TO THE WORLD, HE WROTE AN ESSY
WHICH DESCRIBED THE MANY POWERS OF PHOTOGRAPH.
"TO SEE LIFE.
"TO SEE THE WORLD.
"TO WATCH THE FACES OF THE POOR, AND THE GESTURES OF THE PROUD.
"TO SEE STRANGE THINGS.
"MACHINES, ARMIES, MULTITUDES,
"AND SHADOWS IN THE JUNGLE.
"TO SEE, AND TAKE PLEASURE IN SEEING.
"TO SEE AND BE INSTRUCTED.
TO SEE AND BE AMAZED."
(Heiferman) YOU TURN THE PAGES OF "LIFE" MAGAZINE
AND THERE'S POLITICS AND THERE'S FASHION
AND THERE'S MOVIES AND THERE'S ADVERTISING
AND THERE'S CARS AND THERE'S FOOD AND THERE'S HOMES
AND THERE'S TRAGEDY AND THERE'S HAPPINESS
AND IF YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT THAT WAS LIKE IN 1936
DURING THE DEPRESSION AS PEOPLE ARE JUST TRYING
TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON IN THIS COUNTRY, IT'S AMAZING.
(narrator) "LIFE" PERFECTED THE FORMAT OF THE PHOTO ESSAY.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS, SELECTED AND ARRANGED ON THE PAGE,
WOULD TELL THE STORY
WITH A BEGINNING, A MIDDLE, AND AN END.
(Barbara Baker) WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED WITH THAT PHOTO ESSAY,
YOU SHOULD PRETTY MUCH KNOW
WHAT THAT STORY IS ALL ABOUT
WITHOUT EVEN HAVING READ A WORD
IN A TEXT PIECE OR A CAPTION.
THERE WAS THE "CAREER GIRL,"
LEONARD MCCOMBE'S "CAREER GIRL."
PEOPLE HADN'T SEEN STORIES LIKE THAT,
ACTUALLY PUBLISHED--PICTURES OF PEOPLE'S ORDINARY LIVES.
(Czitrom) ONE OF THE REASONS I THINK THAT PEOPLE GET HOOKED ON "LIFE" IS
A SENSE THAT THEY ARE BRINGING THESE EXTRAORDINARY IMAGES
TO ANY AMERICAN CITIZEN. ANY GIVEN AMERICAN,
NO MATTER WHERE HE OR SHE LIVED, NO MATTER WHAT THEIR CLASS WAS,
NO MATTER WHAT THEY DID FOR A LIVING,
THEY ALL COULD ESSENTIALLY SHARE IN THIS EXPERIENCE,
AND THAT EXPERIENCE OF COURSE, IS DEFINED BY STILL PHOTOGRAPHS.
"LIFE" TOLD US ABOUT A WORLD
THAT MANY OF US DIDN'T HAVE.
I GREW UP IN THE ITALIAN SECTION OF BROOKLYN.
I DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH UNTIL I WENT TO SCHOOL.
A MAGAZINE LIKE "LIFE" MAGAZINE WHICH SOMEHOW CAME
INTO THIS ITALIAN HOUSEHOLD, I DON'T KNOW WHY,
BUT I GUESS SOMEONE SAID,
"I THINK WE SHOULD LEARN HOW TO BE AMERICANS,"
AND "LIFE" MAGAZINE WAS THIS GREAT, GREAT LESSON
ABOUT WHAT THE OTHER WORLD, THE OUTSIDE WORLD WAS ALL ABOUT.
YOU KNOW, IT'S SO AMAZING,
I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT I ATE THIS AFTERNOON.
I CAN REMEMBER WHAT I SAW IN "LIFE" MAGAZINE.
[violins play spirited music]
♪ ♪
(narrator) IN A SPECIAL FEATURE,
"LIFE" PRINTED SNAPSHOTS OF MARION CHADWICK
AND HER FATHER AT THE BEACH--
ONE PHOTOGRAPH A YEAR,
FOR OVER A QUARTER OF A CENTURY.
♪ ♪
[fiddles play softly in minor tones]
♪
(narrator) THE GREAT DEPRESSION.
IN WASHINGTON, ROOSEVELT ATTEMPTED
TO DEAL WITH THE ECONOMIC CRISIS
PROPOSING A MULTITUDE OF NEW GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.
HE KNEW HE WOULD NEED THE SUPPORT OF CONGRESS
AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
AS PART OF THE FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION,
THE GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED
AN ORGANIZATION UNIQUE IN PEACETIME,
A PROPAGANDA AGENCY THAT WOULD USE THE POWER OF PHOTOGRAPHS
TO SELL ROOSEVELT'S PROGRAMS.
ROY STRYKER, AN ECONOMIST FROM COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY,
WAS CHOSEN TO RUN THIS NEW AGENCY.
(John Morris) ROY STRYKER NEVER TOOK A PICTURE IN HIS LIFE.
BUT HE WAS A GREAT TALENT SCOUT,
AND HE BROUGHT TOGETHER
A TEAM OF PHOTOGRAPHERS,
SOME OF WHOM HAD BECOME LEGENDS
IN THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
LIKE DOROTHEA LANGE,
ARTHUR ROTHSTEIN,
RUSSELL LEE,
AND WALKER EVANS.
STRYKER WAS DEDICATED TO TELLING THE STORY OF AMERICA
THE WAY IT WAS. AS HE PUT IT,
"OUR JOB WAS TO INTRODUCE AMERICA TO AMERICANS."
[acoustic guitar--strumming]
(Woody Guthrie) ♪ AND THROUGH OUR MIGHTY NATION ♪
♪ IT LEFT A DREADFUL TRACK ♪
♪ FROM OKLAHOMA CITY ♪
♪ TO THE ARIZONA LINE ♪
♪ DAKOTA AND NEBRASKA ♪
♪ TO THE LAZY RIO GRANDE ♪
♪ IT FELL ACROSS OUR CITIES ♪
(Jack Delano) I THINK WHAT I--PHOTOGRAPHS THAT I DID FOR FARM SECURITY
AND WHAT WE ALL DID I THINK IS
AN EXPRESSION OF OUR FEELING
THAT WE WERE LIVING IN A GREAT COUNTRY
BUT THAT THE COUNTRY WAS IN GREAT TROUBLE, AND ALSO
THAT THE PEOPLE WHO WERE MOST TROUBLED IN THOSE TIMES WERE
ALSO THE PEOPLE WHO WERE PART OF ITS GREATNESS.
(Edwin Rosskam) IT WAS A POLITICALLY NAIVE PERIOD,
AND ALL OF US WHO WENT
TO WASHINGTON AT THAT TIME,
HAD SOME CRAZY IDEA THAT WHAT WE COULD DO--
COULD ALTER THE COURSE OF HISTORY.
(Naomi Rosenblum) I'VE READ ANY NUMBER OF TIMES
ABOUT HOW THERE WAS DUST IN THE FOOD AND DUST ON THE TABLE
AND DUST IN THE BED AND IN THE CLOTHES,
BUT UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY SEE
A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH SUCH AS
ARTHUR ROTHSTEIN'S OF THE PEOPLE
WALKING FROM THE HOUSE TO THE DUST CELLAR,
YOU DON'T GET A SENSE OF
THE IMMENSITY OF THE OCCURRENCE.
SOMEHOW THE PHOTOGRAPH SUMS THIS ALL UP IN A DIFFERENT WAY,
YOU GET A SENSE OF IT THAT'S SORT OF VISCERAL
INSTEAD OF JUST INTELLECTUAL.
(narrator) OVER 6 YEARS, FSA PHOTOGRAPHES
TOOK A QUARTER OF A MILLION PHOTOGRAPHS.
THEY WERE MADE AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE AND WERE
WIDELY USED IN NEWSPAPERS,
MAGAZINES, EXHIBITS, AND BOOKS.
AT THE TIME, THE PICTURES HELPED SELL ROOSEVELT'S PROGRAMS,
BUT FOR LATER GENERATIONS,
THEY HAVE BECOME A NATIONAL TREASURE.
FROZEN IN THIS ARCHIVE IS
A CRITICAL MOMENT OF AMERICAN HISTORY.
TODAY, WHEN WE THINK OF THE DEPRESSION, WE SEE THESE FACE,
THE SUFFERING AND THE SADNESS
AS WELL AS THEIR IMPLICIT MESSAGE--
AS BAD AS THINGS WERE, AMERICA WOULD ENDURE.
[wind howling]
IN THE EARLY 1940s,
A YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHER, GORDON PARKS,
GOT A CALL TO COME TO WASHINGTON.
WITH THE SUCCESS OF THE FSA, ITS ROLE WAS BEING EXPANDED.
ROY STRYKER BELIEVED THAT PHOTOGRAPHS COULD BE USED
TO COMBAT RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.
HE BEGAN BY SHOWING PARKS HOW THINGS REALLY WORKED
ON THE STREETS OF THE NATION'S CAPITAL.
SO ROY STRYKER ASKED ME A FEW QUESTIONS AND SAID,
"WHAT DO YOU REALLY KNOW ABOUT THE CITY?"
AND I TOLD HIM, AND HE SAID, "HMMM," HE SAID,
"WELL I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU AN ASSIGNMENT--
"YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT-- PUT YOUR CAMERA ON A SHELF.
"I WANT YOU TO GO TO JULIUS GARFINKLE'S STORE,
"BUY YOURSELF A TOPCOAT.
"THERE'S A RESTAURANT DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET.
THERE'S A MOTION PICTURE HOUSE DOWN IN THE SAME BLOCK."
SO TO MAKE THE STORY SHORT,
EACH ONE OF THEM GAVE ME SHORT SHRIFT.
I DIDN'T GET A COAT AT THE DEPARTMENT STORE.
WHEN I WENT INTO THE RESTAURANT,
THE MAN SAID, "DON'T YOU KNOW
NEGROES HAVE TO EAT ON THE OTHER SIDE IN THE BACK?
YOU CAN'T COME IN THIS SIDE.
YOU HAVE TO GET YOUR FOOD IN TO THE BACK."
AND OF COURSE, I DIDN'T EVEN GET IN THE MOVIE HOUSE.
THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS. SO I WAS ASTOUNDED.
AND I WENT BACK, AND ROY SAW ME WALK IN, AND HE SMILED.
AND HE SAID, "WELL HOW DID IT GO?"
AND I SAYS, "WELL, I THINK YOU KNOW HOW IT WENT."
HE SAID, "YEAH--WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?"
I SAID, "I DON'T KNOW. WHAT DO I DO ABOUT IT?"
HE SAID, "WELL, WHAT'D YOU BRING YOUR CAMERA DOWN HERE FOR?"
JUST LIKE THAT I SAID, "OH."
SO, HE LEFT,
AND THE ONLY PERSON LEFT IN THE BUILDING WAS A BLACK WOMAN,
A CHARWOMAN, WHO WAS SWEEPING THE FLOOR AND MOPPING.
SO I INTRODUCED MYSELF, SHE TOLD ME HER NAME WAS ELLA WATSON,
AND I ASKED HER IF I COULD PHOTOGRAPH HER.
"PHOTOGRAPH ME LIKE THIS?" I SAID "YES."
I REALLY THOUGHT OF GRANT WOOD'S PICTURE, "AMERICAN GOTHIC."
I PUT A BROOM IN ONE HAND AND A MOP IN THE OTHER.
AND TOLD HER TO LOOK DIRECTLY INTO THE CAMERA.
WELL, THAT PICTURE HAS BECOME THE BEST-KNOWN PICTURE
OF ALL OF MY WORK.
I SHOWED IT TO STRYKER 3 MORNINGS LATER.
HE SAID, "WELL, YOU'RE GETTIN' THE IDEA,
BUT YOU'RE GOING TO GET US ALL FIRED."
SAID "THIS IS A GOVERNMENT AGENCY AND THAT PICTURE
IS AN INDICTMENT AGAINST AMERICA.
AND I REALIZED FROM THE REACTIONS OF PEOPLE
THAT THE CAMERA COULD BE A VERY POWERFUL INSTRUMENT
AGAINST DISCRIMINATION,
AGAINST POVERTY, AGAINST RACISM.
[piano plays softly]
♪
(Merry Foresta) HE WAS. . .
FILLED WITH THIS IDEA OF
PHOTOGRAPHY OF NATURAL SPACES,
BEING VERY MUCH LINKED WITH AN AMERICAN VISION.
THE LANDSCAPE IN AMERICA HAS A
GREAT HISTORY AND LEGACY TO IT.
IT WAS OUR CATHEDRALS
AND IT WAS OUR CASTLES.
IN RESPONSE TO A EUROPEAN IDEA
OF WHAT ART SHOULD BE ABOUT,
SOMETHING SPIRITUAL, SOMETHING LOFTY,
SOMETHING HISTORICAL,
OUR HISTORY WAS IN
OUR WATERFALLS AND OUR MOUNTAINS AND OUR GREAT RIVERS.
[violins play]
♪
PEOPLE, I THINK, MISUNDERSTAND ADAMS BECAUSE HE
PHOTOGRAPHED MOUNTAINS AND PEAKS
SO PEOPLE THINK IT'S
ABOUT. . .GEOGRAPHY OR GEOLOGY.
BUT HE REALLY WAS PHOTOGRAPHING THE WEATHER.
HE MADE PICTURES UNLIKE ANYBODY ELSE HAD MADE,
OR FOR THAT MATTER, HAS MADE.
WHEN ADAMS WAS DOING HIS BEST WORK,
EVERYONE THOUGHT IT WAS IRRELEVANT.
BEAUTIFUL PICTURES OF LITTLE. . .
PRISTINE LITTLE LAKES IN THE HIGH SIERRAS.
WHAT DID THAT MEAN DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION,
DURING THE SECOND WAR?
IT REALLY SEEMED LIKE ESCAPISM THEN.
LATER AFTER THE WORLD BECAME CONCERNED
WITH ECOLOGICAL ISSUES,
AND WHEN IT BEGAN TO SEEM TO PEOPLE
THAT THE PRESERVATION OF OUR PLACE WAS AS IMPORTANT,
AS CENTRAL AN ISSUE AS ANY,
THEN ADAMS BEGAN TO SEEM VERY RELEVANT. . .
VERY PROPHETIC.
(narrator) IN THE EARLY 1940s,
THE PHOTOGRAPH HAD COMPLETED ITS CONQUEST OF AMERICA.
AFTER THE SUCCESS OF "LIFE,"
THE NEWSSTANDS WERE OVERFLOWING
WITH PICTURE MAGAZINES.
WIRE SERVICES WERE NOW SENDING PICTURES INSTANTLY
AROUND THE WORLD, NOT ONLY ON TELEPHONES LINES,
BUT VIA RADIO WAVES.
35 MILLIMETER CAMERAS AND FAST LENSES
MADE IT POSSIBLE TO CAPTURE LIFE IN ACTION.
WITH THESE TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS,
PHOTOGRAPHY HAD IMMENSE POWER TO SHAPE PUBLIC OPINION.
ALL THIS POTENTIAL CAME TOGETHER ON DECEMBER 7, 1941.
[roar of airplane engines and loud booming]
THE WAR WOULD BE FOUGHT ON MANY FRONTS--
AN ASTOUNDING GLOBAL STORY
WHICH BOTH THE MILITARY AND THE PRESS
WERE DETERMINED TO RECORD IN PICTURES.
"LIFE" MAGAZINE AND FORMER FSA PHOTOGRAPHERS
WERE RUSHED TO THE FRONT LINES.
IT SOON BECAME A TRAGEDY OF UNIMAGINABLE PROPORTIONS,
BUT IRONICALLY, WORLD WAR II WAS A PHOTOGRAPHER'S DREAM.
(male newsreel announcer) MILITARY CAMERAMEN MOVED IN
AS ALWAYS WITH THE TROOPS
TO BRING HOME THE PICTURED FACTS,
THE HELL OF JUNGLE WARFARE,
THE DAWN OF LANDING DAY ON SOME CORRAL BEACH.
[loud explosions]
[whining of airplane engine]
[loud explosion]
[many people yelling]
(narrator) "PUBLIC OPINION WINS WARS,"
WROTE GENERAL EISENHOWER.
(male film narrator) THUS AT LAST,
THE DOUBLE FACE OF NIPPON SHOWED ITSELF IN ITS TRUE. . .
(narrator) TO WIN WORLD WAR II, IT WASN'T ENOUGH
TO TELL THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WHAT THEY WERE FIGHTING FOR.
IT WAS NECESSARY TO DRIVE HOME WHAT THEY WERE FIGHTING AGAINST.
THE JAPANESE, WITH THEIR UNPROVOKED ATTACK
ON PEARL HARBOR, WERE SINGLED OUT
AS OBJECTS OF PARTICULAR HATRED.
WELL, THE JAPANESE SOON BECAME "JAPS,"
NOT JUST IN LIFE, BUT IN THE PRESS IN GENERAL.
THE WORST, THE MOST TRAGIC THING
THAT HAPPENED WAS THE EVACUATION
OF WHAT EVENTUALLY BECAME
ABOUT 100,000 JAPANESE-AMERICAN RESIDENTS
OF THE WEST COAST TO THE INTERIOR.
THERE WAS RACISM, BOTH CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS,
IN THE TREATMENT OF THE JAPANESE.
IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THAT, THEN YOU CAN UNDERSTAND
THE DIMENSION OF THE WAR THAT SELDOM SURFACES TODAY
THAT KIND OF INTENSE HATRED
THAT WAS NECESSARY TO FIGHT IT.
(narrator) TO MODERN EYES,
OF ALL THE MANY PICTURES
COMING OUT OF WORLD WAR II,
THIS IS ONE OF THE STRANGEST
AND MOST TELLING.
"LIFE" MAGAZINE PRINTED IT AS THEIR "PICTURE OF THE WEEK"
WITH THE FOLLOWING CAPTION:
WHEN HE SAID GOOD-BYE TO NATALIE NICKERSON,
HER HANDSOME NAVY LIEUTENANT PROMISED HER-- A JAP."
(Fussell) SHE WAS HIS GIRLFRIEND, APPARENTLY,
AND A VERY RESPECTABLE GIRL WHO WENT TO CHURCH
AND LED HER HIGH SCHOOL CLASS AND THAT SORT OF THING.
AND HERE SHE WAS PRESENT AT THIS
BIZARRE AND GRUESOME EXHIBIT
OF THIS JAPANESE SOLDIER'S SKULL.
WELL THAT SORT OF THING WAS COMMONPLACE.
IT BECAME A REAL SERVICE PROBLEM AS WHAT TO DO
WITH THESE CLEANSED BONES
OF FORMER JAPANESE SOLDLIERS
THAT WERE BEING SENT HOME
AS GIFTS AND SOUVENIRS.
MY POINT IS, THAT IT'S NEVER HAPPENED
WITH THE GERMAN CORPSES.
THEY WERE NEVER BOILED DOWN TO GET THEIR BONES TO SEND HOME.
NEVER! THE GERMANS WERE WHITE PEOPLE.
AND I THINK THIS OUGHT TO BE TALKED ABOUT
IN EXACTLY THOSE TERMS, BECAUSE IT'S BEEN FORGOTTEN.
WE DIDN'T LOCK UP PEOPLE WITH GERMAN NAMES.
WE LOCKED UP PEOPLE WITH JAPANESE NAMES,
ALTHOUGH THEY WERE AMERICAN CITIZENS,
THEY WERE VERY CLOSE TO, IT SEEMED, TO WHAT USED TO BE
CALLED "NIGGERS" IN THIS COUNTRY,
AND THAT SHOULD NEVER BE FORGOTTEN EITHER,
AND THE FACT THAT THEY WERE NOT WHITE SUGGESTED
A VERY SPECIAL BRAND OF ALIEN OFFENSIVENESS,
AND CONSEQUENTLY TO TAKE THE FLESH OFF THEIR DEAD BONES
AND THEN MAIL THOSE BONES HOME AS NICE SOUVENIRS
FOR THE PEOPLE IN IOWA, AND SO ON,
DIDN'T BOTHER PEOPLE AT ALL.
THEY THOUGHT IT QUITE APPROPRIATE.
YOU CAN LEARN A LOT ABOUT AMERICANS
IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR FROM THAT ONE PHOTOGRAPH,
I WOULD SAY.
(narrator) WORLD WAR II PRODUCED MANY FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHS,
BUT ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS WAS NOT OF GUNS OR TANKS,
BUT OF A YOUNG WOMAN'S BACK.
[big band plays swing music]
♪ ♪
HER NAME WAS BETTY GRABLE
AND AT THE HEIGHT OF THE WAR,
50,000 SERVICEMEN A MONTH
WERE ASKING FOR THIS PICTURE.
20TH CENTURY FOX MADE A MOVIE
TO CAPITALIZE ON THE FAME OF THE PHOTOGRAPH.
I SIGNED EACH, "LOVE, LAURIE."
THEY CALLED IT "PINUP GIRL."
THAT'S ALL FELLAS.
WITH HIGH HEELS,
HER BATHING SUIT,
AND HER BIG COME HITHER SMILE,
BETTY GRABLE'S PHOTOGRAPH WAS EVERYWHERE.
A FIGHTER PLANE WAS NAMED "PINUP GIRL"
AND HAD HER PICTURE PAINTED ON ITS FUSELAGE.
SHE BILLED HERSELF AS THE DAUGHTER OF A TRUCKDRIVER
AND TOOK HER ROLE AS ICON SERIOUSLY.
"I'VE GOT TO BE AN ENLISTED MAN'S GIRL," SHE SAID,
"JUST LIKE THIS HAS GOT TO BE AN ENLISTED MAN'S WAR."
(Betty) ♪ LIKE A FIRESIDE AT HOME ♪
♪ DO I LOVE MY PINUP GIRL ♪
THE WAR CREATED A FAD FOR PINUPS OF ALL KINDS.
ON BARRACK WALLS, IN DECALS,
IN SOLDIER'S WALLETS.
"LIFE" MAGAZINE PUBLISHED A SET
OF PICTURES OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN
AND THEN CONDUCTED A POLL AMONG THE TROOPS.
"WHICH ONE OF THESE GIRLS WOULD YOU
MOST LIKE TO HAVE PNEUMONIA WITH?"
"THE GIRL YOU'D MOST LIKE TO BAIL OUT WITH?"
"THE GIRL YOU'D MOST LIKE TO TAKE OUT FOR A CHICKEN DINNER"
AN ARMY PUBLICATION PUT IT SIMPLY.
"WE'RE NOT ONLY FIGHTING FOR THE 4 FREEDOMS,
WE'RE FIGHTING FOR THE PRICELESS PRIVILEGE
OF MAKING LOVE TO AMERICAN WOMEN."
♪ SO BABY KEEP A'GRINNING ♪
♪ REMEMBER I'M PINNING ♪
♪ MY HOPES ON YOU ♪
[boom! boom! Boom! BOOM! BOOM!]
(male newsreel announcer) THIS IS THE DAY FOR WHICH
FREE PEOPLE LONG HAVE WAITED.
THIS IS D-DAY!
(narrator) FOR YEARS IT HAD BEEN IN THE PLANNING.
THE RETURN OF ALLIED FORCES TO FRANCE.
THE ULTIMATE CRUSHING OF GERMANY
AND THE END OF THE WAR IN EUROPE.
EVERY MAGAZINE AND NEWSPAPER EDITOR IN THE COUNTRY
KNEW THAT D-DAY WOULD BE THEIR BIGGEST STORY.
"LIFE" MAGAZINE SENT JOHN MORRIS TO LONDON IN LATE 1943.
HIS INSTRUCTIONS WERE SIMPLE:
GET US THE FIRST PICTURES OF THE INVASION.
(Morris) BY JUNE 1944,
I HAD A TEAM OF 6
WAR CORRESPONDENT PHOTOGRAPHERS,
AND MY JOB WAS TO GET THEM ASSIGNED TO VARIOUS SPOTS
FOR THE GREAT STORY OF THE INVASION,
WHICH INVOLVED A MILLION MEN.
(narrator) TO COVER THE ACTUAL LANDING,
MORRIS SENT ROBERT CAPA.
CAPA HAD PHOTOGRAPHED THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR,
THE DESERT BATTLE ACROSS NORTH AFRICA,
AND THE INVASION OF ITALY.
IF ANYONE COULD CAPTURE THE EVENTS OF D-DAY ON FILM,
IT WOULD BE ROBERT CAPA.
[din of loud explosions]
(Morris) WHEN CAPA'S FILM CAME IN,
WE WERE DESPERATE BECAUSE WE HAD TO MAKE A FINAL DEADLINE
OF 9:00 AM THURSDAY MORNING FOR SHIPMENT TO "LIFE."
UP UNTIL THAT MOMENT, THE WHOLE WORLD DIDN'T KNOW
WHAT D-DAY ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE.
SO WE WERE REALLY PRESSED FOR TIME.
CAPA'S FILM CAME IN.
IT CAME TO ME IN THE EARLY EVENING
WITH A NOTE FROM HIM SAYING, "JOHN, THE ACTION IS
ALL IN THESE 4 ROLLS OF 35-MILLIMETER FILM."
AND I ORDERED THE DARKROOM
TO RUSH PROCESSING AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.
I SAID, "GIVE ME CONTACT PRINTS," I NEEDED TO EDIT.
AND THE YOUNG LAD IN THE DARKROOM
PUT THE FILM IN THE DRYING CABINET AND CLOSED THE DOORS,
AND THERE WAS TOO MUCH HEAT.
AND BECAUSE WE WERE IN SUCH A HURRY, THE FILMS WERE RUINED.
AND ON 3 ROLLS OF THE 4, THERE WAS NO IMAGE DISCERNIBLE AT ALL,
BUT ON THE FOURTH ROLL, FORTUNATELY,
I FOUND 11 FRAMES THAT COULD BE PRINTED.
AND THOSE ARE THE PICTURES THAT WILL LIVE FOREVER.
[drumroll]
THERE SHE GOES.
ONE OF THE GREAT PHOTO ICONS OF ALL TIME,
POSSIBLY THE GREATEST,
IS A PICTURE JOE ROSENTHAL MADE
OF THE FLAG RAISING ON IWO JIMA ON TOP OF MT. SURIBACHI.
IT HAD BEEN A BLOODY, BLOODY COURSE,
AND THEN ALONG COMES THIS PICTURE THAT SAYS "VICTORY."
THE NIGHT IT WAS MADE,
IT WAS FLOWN TO GUAM
AND THE NEXT DAY WAS TRANSMITTED TO THE U.S.
SO IT WAS IN THE U.S.
WITHIN A DAY AND A HALF OF THE TIME IT WAS MADE,
AND TRANSMITTED TO NEWSPAPERS,
AND THE PICTURE WAS PLAYED ON THE FRONT PAGES EVERYWHERE
AND IT BECAME AN INSTANT ICON.
THAT PHOTOGRAPH IS ESPECIALLY INTERESTING, I THINK
BECAUSE IT COULD BE SAID TO MARK THE IMPACT OF THE NEW DEAL
UPON THE WAY WE UNDERSTOOD THE WAR.
WE UNDERSTOOD THE WAR AS AN ALMOST MAGICAL FORCE
FOR UNITING PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY,
AND FOR EFFACING DIFFERENCES,
AND THAT IS WHAT THAT PHOTOGRAPH
TAKEN JUST AS A PIECE
OF SYMBOLISM IS ABOUT.
(narrator) ONE PICTURE.
AND IN THAT BRIEF MOMENT,
ROSENTHAL'S CAMERA SEEMED TO CAPTURE THE SOUL OF A NATION.
(Buell) THERE ARE CERTAIN PICTURES
THAT CHANGE OUR LIVES.
NOW, I DON'T MEAN PICTURES OF EVENTS THAT CHANGE OUR LIVES,
BUT I MEAN PICTURES THEMSELVES THAT CHANGE OUR LIVES.
AND AUSCHWITZ AND OTHER CONCENTRATION CAMP PHOTOS
ARE IN THAT CATEGORY.
(narrator) PEOPLE HAD READ DESCRIPTIONS
OF THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS,
BUT THEY SEEMED EXAGGERATED. . .
UNBELIEVABLE.
EYEWITNESSES HAD BEEN
MET WITH SUSPICION.
THE POSSIBILITY THAT
A WHOLE PEOPLE HAD BEEN EXTERMINATED
WAS UNTHINKABLE.
AND THEN-- THESE IMAGES. . .
VISUAL PROOF OF THE ENORMITY OF THE NAZI CRIMES.
EVEN MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE,
THE EXPERIENCED COMBAT PHOTOGRAPHER,
COULD NOT FATHOM WHAT SHE WAS SEEING:
"USING THE CAMERA WAS ALMOST A RELIEF," SHE WROTE,
"IT INTERPOSED A SLIGHT BARRIER
BETWEEN MYSELF AND THE WHITE HORROR IN FRONT OF ME.
I KEPT TELLING MYSELF
THAT I'D BELIEVE IT
WHEN I HAD A CHANCE TO
LOOK AT MY OWN PHOTOGRAPHS.
BUT LATER, WHEN I
DEVELOPED THE NEGATIVES,
I COULD NOT BRING MYSELF
TO LOOK AT THE FILMS."
LIKE THE HOLOCAUST THEY DOCUMENTED, THE PHOTOGRAPHS
MARK A TURNING POINT
IN HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS.
THE WORLD WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME.
[guitar plays softly]
♪
[man sings in native language]
♪
(narrator) ON JANUARY 24, 1955,
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN NEW YORK CITY
PRESENTED AN EXHIBITION CALLED "THE FAMILY OF MAN."
ORGANIZED BY PHOTOGRAPHER EDWARD STEICHEN,
IT WAS A FUSION OF CAREFULLY SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHS
AND CAPTIONS, ALL TO SUPPORT THE CONCEPT--
MANKIND IS ONE.
IT INCLUDED 500 PHOTOGRAPHS,
FROM 68 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD.
IT FEATURED GROUPS OF RELATED PICTURES
THAT MOVED THE VIEWER FROM IMAGES OF LOVERS MEETING,
TO PICTURES OF MARRIAGE,
TO BIRTH,
AND FINALLY TO UNIVERSAL CONCERNS OF FOOD AND SHELTER.
FOR ONE THING, IT CAME
AFTER THIS TERRIBLE WAR
AND THE AFTERMATH OF THE WAR
IN WHICH SOCIETIES WERE REALLY DISRUPTED.
IT MADE THE POINT THAT PEOPLE EVERYWHERE HAD THE SAME NEEDS
AND SAME DESIRES, THAT FAMILIES WERE FAMILIES
WHEREVER THEY EXISTED,
NO MATTER WHAT THEIR SURROUNDINGS LOOKED LIKE.
IT APPEALED TO PEOPLE ON A JUST VERY HUMAN LEVEL.
♪
(narrator) CRITICS ATTACKED THE SHOW AS SIMPLISTIC,
BUT FOR THE VAST GENERAL PUBLIC,
THE EXHIBIT WAS A PROFOUND REVELATION.
IT TOURED THE COUNTRY AND THEN THE WORLD,
BRINGING MANY PEOPLE INTO MUSEUMS
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR LIVES.
A BOOK WAS PUBLISHED BASED ON THE EXHIBIT,
AND IT BROUGHT THE PICTURES TO MILLIONS MORE.
IN ALL, THE "FAMILY OF MAN"
BECAME THE MOST WIDELY SEEN
COLLECTION OF IMAGES
IN THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
(Tom Hurwitz) I DON'T REMEMBER WHEN THE "FAMILY OF MAN"
CAME INTO MY CONSCIOUSNESS,
BUT ITS EFFECT ON ME WAS EXTRAORDINARY.
IT WAS A COLLECTION OF
THE SINGLE MOST POWERFUL IMAGES
THAT I HAD EVER SEEN,
CERTAINLY TO THAT DATE,
AND PROBABLY EVER HAVE SEEN TOGETHER.
THESE EXTRAORDINARY PICTURES
CELEBRATED A HUMANISM
SAYING THAT ALL PEOPLE
WERE ALIKE UNDER THE SKIN,
BUT YET IN THEIR DIFFERENCES THEY EXPRESS THE BEAUTY
OF WHAT IT IS TO BE HUMAN.
THE COUPLE MAKING LOVE.
OBVIOUSLY IN THE MIDDLE OF SEX.
ALTHOUGH ALL YOU SEE ARE THEIR SHOULDERS,
WAS WHAT I HOPED PASSION WOULD BE.
THE FATHER TEACHING THE SON HOW TO HUNT IN BECHUANALAND
WAS SOMETHING ABOUT FATHERHOOD,
SOMETHING ABOUT WHAT I WANTED TO BE AS A FATHER,
BUT THEN THERE WERE PHOTOGRAPHS
THAT JUST TO ME SAID THINGS THAT WERE SO BIG ABOUT THE WORLD.
I MEAN, THE CARTIER-BRESSON PHOTOGRAPHS
ESPECIALLY THE ONE
OF THE WOMEN LOOKING OFF ACROSS
THE FIELD OF STONES IN KASHMIR.
THE DOISNEAU PICTURE OF THE LOVERS BY THE SEINE.
THEY WERE ICONS--THEY STOOD FOR MEANING THAT KEPT BUILDING
AND BUILDING AND BUILDING.
AND IT TOLD US THAT
THE HUMAN HEART WAS BEAUTIFUL.
AND THE HUMAN HEART WAS SHARED
BY EVERYONE WHO IS HUMAN.
♪
YEARS AGO, I WATCHED
MY WIFE GOING THROUGH
THE NEW YORK TIMES
MAGAZINE SECTION.
AND SHE WAS TURNING LIKE THIS, ARE REALLY FAST, REALLY FAST.
AND SHE FINALLY STOPPED AT WHAT I THOUGHT WAS
THE WORST AD I'D EVEN SEEN.
THE HEADLINE WAS JUST DISMAL.
IT SAID NOTHING, THE LAYOUT WAS REALLY BAD.
AND, I SAID, "WHY DID YOU STOP AT THAT AD?"
AND SHE SAID, "I LIKE THAT DRESS.
VERY NICE PICTURE OF A DRESS. I LIKE THE DRESS."
I THINK THAT OUR SENSE
OF OUR CLOTHING AT ALL TIMES
IS ESSENTIALLY PICTORIAL.
GROUPS OF PEOPLE IN 1863 CAUGHT BY THE CAMERA
SHOW THESE PEOPLE LOOKING
LIKE BUNDLES OF LAUNDRY.
I THINK IN ORDER TO LOOK BETTER IN THE CAMERA EYE,
THERE'S A KIND OF SELF-CONTAINED SLIM UNIT
HAS CAME INTO EXISTENCE.
YOU HAVE TO REALLY BE QUITE SLENDER
TO BE PERFECT IN THE CAMERA.
WHAT THE CAMERA INFLUENCES
RIGHT THERE IS THE WAY PEOPLE WISH TO LOOK.
(Foresta) AFTER THE WAR,
GOING THROUGH THE PAGES OF VOGUE
OR HARPER'S BAZAAR, LOOKING AT PENN'S PHOTOGRAPHS
LATER AT AVEDON'S PHOTOGRAPHS,
WHAT THESE PHOTOGRAPHS DID WAS
CREATE A WAY WE WANTED TO LOOK.
IT PERMEATED ALL ASPECTS
OF. . .OURSELVES,
CERTAINLY OURSELVES AS WOMEN IN THE WORLD.
(Hollander) YOU HAD DESIRABLE PEOPLE'S LOOKS
SEEN THROUGH THE CAMERA,
IN THOSE CLOTHES THAT LOOKED MARVELOUS UNDER THE CAMERA EYE.
YOU HAD A SENSE THAT THERE IS NOTHING THE CAMERA
CANNOT MAKE MARVELOUS.
LET'S SAY IT'S A DRESS AND YOU PUT IT ON THE MODEL.
AND IT'S STILL, IT'S OKAY, BUT IT'S A DRESS.
THEN SOMEBODY PINS IT UP IN THE BACK,
AND PINS IT UP ON THE SIDE, AND IT'S STILL A DRESS.
AND THEN A PHOTOGRAPHER, AN AVEDON, TAKES A PHOTOGRAPH.
AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE WANTS.
IT'S THIS BEAUTIFUL, INCREDIBLE DRESS.
AND THEN, WHAT HAPPENS IS, THEY GO TO THE STORE.
BUT IT NEVER LOOKS LIKE THE PHOTOGRAPH.
NOTHING EVER REALLY LOOKS LIKE THE PHOTOGRAPH.
AND THAT'S THE SAD PART OF LIFE.
[piano plays softly]
♪
SETTING UP THE FAMILY
SLIDE PROJECTOR IS A RITUAL
THAT'S VIRTUALLY DISAPPEARED.
BUT IT'S ONE THAT I RECALL WITH GREAT CLARITY
AND AFFECTION FROM MY CHILDHOOD.
WHILE MY FATHER'S SOPHISTICATED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY
MADE OUR FAMILY SOMEWHAT UNIQUE,
IN MANY OTHER WAYS, WE WERE TYPICAL.
WE LOVED MAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE MARKERS OF LIFE.
OFTEN THESE PICTURES WERE MADE ON FAMILY VACATIONS WHEN WE,
LIKE MILLIONS OF OTHER AMERICANS,
STUFFED THE FAMILY INTO THE STATION WAGON
AND HEADED OUT ONTO THE OPEN ROAD.
ONE MIGHT HAVE THE IMPRESSION,
LOOKING AT SCORES OF THESE PICTURES
THAT WE MOVED AROUND IN A KIND OF CLUMP,
NEVER MORE THAN PERHAPS AN ARMS LENGTH APART.
I THINK THE PICTURES REPRESENT
A KIND OF TENACITY ON THE PART OF MY PARENTS
TO MAINTAIN A KIND OF IDEAL IMAGE
OR IDEAL APPEARANCE OF FAMILY CLOSENESS
IN SPITE OF WHATEVER BATTLES
MIGHT HAVE BEEN GOING ON IN THE BACK SEAT OF THE CAR
2 MINUTES BEFORE THE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE MADE.
ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS
THAT IN A SENSE PLAYS ITSELF OUT IN THESE PICTURES,
IS THE IDEA OF CONNECTING THE OLDER MYTHOLOGIES
OF AMERICAN CULTURE TO WHAT YOU MIGHT THINK OF
AS THE FUTURE MYTHOLOGIES OF AMERICAN CULTURE.
ESPECIALLY WITH THE GROWING MYTHOLOGY OF THE IDEAL FAMILY
IN AMERICA IN THE 50s.
[big band fanfare]
♪ ♪
(narrator) IN THE BOOM OF THE 1950s,
AMERICANS WERE BEING INUNDATED WITH IMAGES.
ALTHOUGH TELEVISION WAS BECOMING AMERICA'S FAVORITE PASTIME,
PHOTOGRAPHY WAS STILL KING.
MAGAZINES WERE EVERYWHERE.
"LIFE" AND "LOOK" HAD MORE READERS THAN EVER.
THE PICTURES IN BOTH THE ADS AND THE STORIES
SHOWED A BRAVE NEW WORLD OF SUBURBS. . .
FIBERGLASS. . .
KITCHEN SETS. . .
CRINOLINES. . .
AND CARS WITH FINS.
"LIFE" MAGAZINE, MOVIES,
AND SOON TELEVISION CREATE
A PHOTOGRAPHIC WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES
THAT NOBODY COULD HAVE DREAMED OF 20 YEARS EARLIER.
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU START TO GET, AFTER THE WAR,
A DIFFERENT KIND OF VISUAL UNIVERSE.
THAT MAGAZINE, SAYS IT'S REPORTING ON, BUT IT'S CREATING.
IT'S HELPING CREATE IT.
(woman) ♪ GET HAPPY, CHASE YOUR CARES AWAY ♪
(Barbara Pollack) AT THE TIME, PEOPLE BELIEVED IN IT SO STRONGLY
THAT PEOPLE GETTING "LIFE" MAGAZINE,
LOOKING AT PICTURES OF THOSE FAMILIES
WOULD GO THROUGH-- "OH, MAYBE WE SHOULD
REDECORATE OUR LIVING ROOM LIKE THAT,"
OR "WHAT CAN WE DO TO LOOK MORE LIKE THIS FAMILY."
THE VISION OF AMERICA
AND THE VISION OF THE GOOD LIFE
THAT'S PRESENTED IN MAGAZINES LIKE "LIFE" AND "LOOK"
IS EXTREMELY NARROW, EXTREMELY CIRCUMSCRIBED
IN TERMS OF WHO'S BEING PICTURED.
IT'S CLEARLY MIDDLE CLASS, IT'S CLEARLY WHITE,
IT CLEARLY HAS A HUSBAND AND A WIFE WHO ACCEPT
THAT THE MAN IS OUT IN THE PUBLIC WORLD, THE WIFE IS HOME,
SHE'S A MOTHER, SHE'S TAKING CARE THE WHOLE DOMESTIC SPHERE--
A VERY CLEAR, NARROW, TIGHTLY DEFINED VISION
OF WHAT IT IS TO BE NORMAL.
♪ THE SUN IS SHININ' COME ON GET HAPPY ♪
(Pollack) WE COULD LOOK BACK AT THE 50s AND SAY "GOD, THOSE ADS
REALLY DISTORT, AND HOW COULD PEOPLE HAVE WANTED
TO FEEL LIKE THE PEOPLE IN THOSE ADS?"
BUT TODAY WE'LL HAVE SOMETHING LIKE A CALVIN KLEIN AD.
ALL RIGHT, NOW WE HAVE THE SEXY MOTHER WHO LOOKS BEAUTIFUL
WITH THE CHILDREN ON THE BEACH, WHICH I CAN TELL YOU
HAD NEVER HAS HAPPENED, AND WE LOOK AT THAT AND WE SAY
"THAT'S TRUE." AND I WANT TO HAVE A WHITE SWEATER
LIKE THAT WHILE I'M ON THE BEACH WITH MY CHILDREN,
AND EVERYTHING STAYS WHITE AND THE WAVES COME UP
AND WE ALL LOOK RELAXED TOGETHER.
AND NOBODY'S ASKING ME
FOR LEMONADE OR WHERE THE JUICE PACK IS.
♪ GET HAPPY ♪
♪ CHASE YOUR CARES AWAY ♪
♪ SHOUT HALLELUJAH COME ON GET HAPPY ♪
♪ GET READY FOR THE JUDGEMENT DAY ♪
♪ SUN IS SHININ' COME ON GET HAPPY ♪
THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE 1950s,
THE OFFICIAL ICONOGRAPHY OF COURSE, HAS BECOME
THE LARGEST CLICHE OF THE LATTER HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY
THAT EVERYTHING REALLY, REALLY DOMESTICATED,
YOU KNOW, ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL,
CONFORMITY, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.
THINGS WEREN'T ACTUALLY THAT WAY OUT IN THE STREETS.
♪ GET READY ♪
♪ FOR THE JUDGEMENT DAY ♪
(male backing vocals) ♪ HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH, HALLALU. . .♪
[loud, brassy sax flourishes]
♪ ♪ ♪
[sax & piano play modern jazz]
(narrator) IN A MID 1950s,
A NEW GENERATION OF PHOTOGRAPHERS LED BY
ROBERT FRANK, WILLIAM KLEIN BEGAN TO REJECT
THE PERFECT LIGHTING AND COMPOSITION
OF PROFESSIONAL PICTURE TAKING.
WILLIAM KLEIN, DESCRIBED HIS EXCITEMENT IN FIRST SEEING,
NOT THE ORDER, BUT THE CHAOS OF LIFE
WHILE LOOKING THROUGH HIS VIEWFINDER.
"I RUSHED OUT IN THE STREET," HE SAID, AND SHOT AWAY,
"AIMING, NOT AIMING, IT DIDN'T MATTER.
I WANTED IT ALL IN A GLUTTONOUS RAGE."
GONE WAS THE COMFORTABLE MIDDLE-CLASS WORLD.
GONE WAS THE NEAT MAGAZINE PHOTO ESSAY
WITH ITS BEGINNING AND MIDDLE AND END.
(Sante) THIS PHOTOGRAPHY IS ABOUT THIS MASS OF MISCONNECTIONS
AND PEOPLE UNCERTAIN OF WHERE THEY'RE GOING
AND PEOPLE COLLIDING AND CULTURES COLLIDING
AND PEOPLE NOT SEEING EACH OTHER.
IT REPRESENTS THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT IN PHOTOGRAPHY,
AND THERE'S SORT OF NO TURNING BACK FROM THAT.
(Heiferman) THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS SAID, HERE'S YOUR WORLD,
THIS IS YOUR WORLD.
THIS IS NOT THE FANTASY OF IT.
THIS IS THE REAL WORLD
AND MADE PICTURES THAT WERE GRAPHIC AND ICONIC
AND COULD BOTH TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE SEEING
AND STAND FOR SOMETHING BIG.
(Buckland) THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHERS SHOWED
THAT IN THIS VAST COUNTRY,
THERE ARE MANY LOST SOULS--
THAT NOT EVERYBODY FITS IN,
AND THAT THE ONE AMERICAN DREAM
IS NOT A "ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL."
[sax plays softly]
♪
(narrator) IN AUGUST, 1955,
A 14-YEAR-OLD BOY, VISITING MISSISSIPPI FROM CHICAGO,
WAS ACCUSED OF WHISTLING AT A WHITE WOMAN.
HE WAS BLUDGEONED TO DEATH AND HIS BODY WAS THROWN INTO A NEARBY RIVER.
IN A SOUTH WHERE VIOLENT RACIM WAS COMMONPLACE,
EMMETT TILL'S MURDER MAY HAVE
GONE UNNOTICED, EXCEPT FOR THIS PHOTOGRAPH.
PUBLISHED ONLY IN THE BLACK PRESS,
IT SHOWED HIS YOUNG FACE BEATEN BEYOND RECOGNITION.
(Dorie Ladner) IT WAS AWFUL. (Joyce Ladner) AWFUL.
(Dorie) IT WAS HORRIFIC. HE LOOKED LIKE AN OLD MAN.
I WOULD GO TO BED EVERY NIGHT FRIGHTENED TO DEATH,
LITERALLY FRIGHTENED TO DEATH, BECAUSE WE WERE
THE SAME AGE AS HE AND WE DIDN'T KNOW
WHETHER OR NOT THEY WOULD COME AND GET US.
AND WE ALSO SAW PICTURES IN THE NEWSPAPERS
AND ESPECIALLY IN THE CHICAGO DEFENDER
AND PITTSBURGH COURIER, OF THE ASSAILANTS.
(Dorie) LAUGHING! IN THE COURTROOM LAUGHING.
(Dorie) A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.
(Joyce) THEY'RE SEARED IN YOUR BRAIN.
(Dorie) YEAH, AND THEY REMAIN THERE, AND EMMETT TILL'S FACE
IS STILL IN MY MIND TODAY. I CAN SEE IT.
IT'S THERE. AND IT WILL NEVER LEAVE.
(Joyce) I THINK MY GENERATION
OF BLACK SOUTHERNERS WHO BECAME ACTIVE
IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN THE LATE 50s, EARLY 60s
WAS THE EMMETT TILL GENERATION, BECAUSE DOWN TO A PERSON,
ALL MY FRIENDS SAW THAT PTURE
AT ABOUT THE SAME AGE AS I OR A YEAR OR 2 OLDER,
AND THEY WERE ENRAGED AND FELT POWERLESS AT THE SAME TIME
AND VOWED AS I DID, THAT ONE DAY THEY WERE GOING TO GET EVEN.
THEY WERE GOING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
(narrator) PHOTOGRAPHY WAS GROWING UP WITH THE CENTURY.
IN THE COMING YEARS, IT WOULD CONFRONT THE TELEVISION AGE,
AND SOON THE DIGITAL AGE.
EVERY ASPECT OF AMERICAN LIFE WAS
ABOUT TO GO THROUGH PROFOUND CHANGES.
[Jimi Hendrix plays "The National Anthem"]
THE CAMERA WOULD BE THERE,
TO DOCUMENT. . .
TO SHOCK. . .
TO MOTIVATE. . .
AND TO TRANSFORM.
♪