Ellis Island

I was recently browsing through one of my favorite discussion boards "Vintage Photography" and stumbled across these great images from photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt. Eisenstaedt, who worked for LIFE magazine is perhaps best known for his iconic photograph depicting the celebrations that occurred after the second world war. 

V-J Day Kiss in Times Square. New York, NY. 1945.

While this image has become synonymous with romance and victory, and has been reproduced on everything from calendars to coffee mugs, the photographs featured here and on LIFE's website depict a strikingly different reality. These rare images capture the bewilderment, confusion and exhaustion that was the first few moments on Ellis Island. 

Never Published. Ellis Island, 1950.

Antonio Magnani copes with his children and fat briefcase holding his entry papers. Ellis Island, 1950.

Taken in the 1950s these pictures depict the last few years of the island's operation as an immigration port. Because more than 100 million people passed through Ellis Island from 1892 to its closing in 1954, these images are especially poignant. If you've ever visited the site, you know first hand how cavernous the processing hall is and one can only imagine how drastically different it would feel teaming with tired and anxious newcomers. 

Photographer Uknown. The Great Hall. Ellis Island. 2012. [Image Source]

Photographer Uknown. The Great Hall. Ellis Island. 1900s. [Image Source]

While other photographers such as Lewis Hine showed the immigration process in a more formal and documentary style, Esenstaedt lent a certain sense of candidness to the composition. As typical of the time period, he steered away from frontal and formal portraits and instead focused on the smaller stories within the bigger picture. I especially love this moment of a very tired mother trying to calm her child. 

Never Published. Ellis Island. 1950.

Photographs and stories of the Ellis Island experience always seem to intrigue me. Perhaps it is the sense of hope so often conveyed in the images, or the idea that these families and individuals are on the threshold of a challenging yet fruitful beginning. Below I have included some of my favorite photographs from the series. It is also worth noting LIFE Magazine's article where the majority of these images and captions come from. As an added bonus to the photographs the spread also features pages from the original LIFE Magazine story. If you love old magazines and layouts as much as I do it is worth checking out. I also found this article to be a great synopsis of the work.

Twenty-four-year-old Schulim Pewzner, a rabbinical student from Warsaw, Poland. Ellis Island, 1950.

Never Published. Ellis Island. 1950.

Never Published. Ellis Island. 1950.

Never Published. On a ferry in New York Harbor, looking at lower Manhattan. 1950.

Maria Nadalin of Italy, seated at left of the table, is worked on by an inspector-stenographer-translator team... Ellis Island. 1950.

There are so many great images it was hard to only pick a few. What are some of your favorites?

***unless otherwise noted all images were taken by eisenstaedt and are courtesy of Time & Life Picture/Getty Images.***

New Visions

Today I came across an unexpected surprise. After an afternoon meeting in midtown I decided to stop by the Museum of Modern Art to check out a current exhibition.  My intention was to look at the Photography Department's annual "New Photography" show. I always anticipate this annual exhibition as the curatorial team at MoMA does an excellent job of pulling together a variety of relevant working photographers. While the work of the five artists featured - Michele Abeles, Birdhead comprised of Ji Weiyu and Song Tao, Anne Collier, Zoe Crosher and Shirana Shahbazi - was certainly compelling and interesting (see Birdhead's photo installation below) what I found to be the highlight of the trip was the adjoining exhibition "New Visions: Photography, Film and Photobook."

Birdheard. Image from The Song of Early Spring. 2012. Gelatin silver print. Image: 35 7/16 x 42 1/2″ (90 x 108 cm). Courtesy the artists and ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai. © 2012 Birdhead [Image Source]

I heard about this exhibition months ago and was never able to get up to MoMA to check it out.  Therefore, I was pleased that upon arrival I was greeted by rooms filled with early avant-garde photographs, films and photobooks. Here is a picture I ssnapped of the Rodchenko display, complete with his beloved (and one of my favorite) typefaces.

                                           

But it wasn't just the Rodchenko prints that were interesting. The curators made sure to include all the classics; portraits of Schlemmer's children by Maholy-nagy, Man Ray's experiments with light and of course El Lissitzky's famous self portrait, which serves as the signature image for the show.

El Lissitzky. Self-Portrait. 1924. [Image Source]

                    

However, what makes this show so appealing is that the photographs do not end with the obvious "New Vision" works but instead continue to tell the story of unique and unexpected viewpoints. The exhibition highlights more contemporary photographers such as Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, Robert Heinecken and Philip-lorca Dicorcia. I found one of the most interesting although obvious connections to the new vision theme to be Martha Rosler's 1967-1972 series, "Bringing the War Home." Rosler, known for her social and political commentary uses photomontage (like so many other avant-garde artists featured in the show) to juxtapose images of ideal daily life with the horrors of war.

Martha Rosler. Hands Up / Makeup from the series Bringing the War Home: House Beautiful. 1967–1972. [Image Source]

While a more detailed discussion of photomontage and collage merits its own post, it is clear that combining unrelated imagery certainly creates a unique way of reading the subject. The exhibition will be on display through April of next year, so you have plenty of time to head over and check it out. I will likely visit the galleries again (perhaps on a quite winter morning) to continue my thoughts on new vision.