Getty Museum

Photograph - New York [The White Fence]

Date

negative 1916; print 1917

Medium

Photogravure

Culture

American

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

Paul Strand's essay "Photography," printed in the June 1917 issue of _Camera Work_, was intended for _The Seven Arts_, an avant-garde publication founded by James Oppenheim (1882-1932) and Waldo Frank (1889-1967) with support from Van Wyck Brooks (1886-1963). A short-lived effort, running from November 1916 through October 1917, it was meant to function as a sort of catalyst for American national identity against the backdrop of World War I. Indeed, in his essay, which was eventually printed in the August 1917 issue of the _Seven Arts_, Strand talks of rejecting European traditions in the hope of finding an art that is truly American. He cites _Camera Work_ as succeeding to express "America without the outside influence of Paris art schools." Arguably, Strand's photograph of this white picket fence, which also appeared in the June 1917 issue of _Camera Work_, is an archetype of American society itself, with the fence symbolizing the ownership and division of property, a basic freedom. And yet, read simply, the image is a powerful tour de force of a bold white foreground laid down over a dark ground, something extremely innovative at this point in the history of photography. Once again, drawing on the ideals of modern art, he exploits the formal properties of the fence to create a dynamic composition that does not employ traditional perspective but yet is very much rooted in reality. In addition, the existence of the fence allowed the photographer the opportunity to experiment with the entire tonal range of the gray scale, literally working from white to black. Unlike with his early prints (for example, see [84.XM.894.1](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/1049SY)), where there is an evenness of values that unites the picture, he is now interested in fully exploring the black-and-white qualities of the medium. Originally published in _Paul Strand_, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum by Anne M. Lyden (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2005), 26. ©2005, J. Paul Getty Trust.

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