Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Free to Love




Successful struggle/
Means battles abound for the/
“Complete feminist.” 



Crystal Eastman (1881-1928). 

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

About Face


Seditious aesthete/
Editing for “The Masses”/
Then refutation. 
Max Eastman (1883-1969), by Van Vechten, 1934.

Monday, October 29, 2012

"Radicals" Week Begins




The matriarch of/
Modern anarchy and the/
Unpopular cause. 


 Emma Goldman (1869-1940), by Van Vechten, 1934.
 

Friday, October 26, 2012

Framing the Self


What is revealed when/
The subject is “self” is an/
Illusory grasp. 
Van Vechten (1880-1964), by Van Vechten, 1934.
 

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Images à la Sauvette


Stinging perception/
Of the decisive moment/
Still leaves one breathless. 


Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), by Van Vechten, 1935.





Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Aesthetics and Innovation




This avant-gardist/
Master of the “rayograph”/
Now duly honored. 


Man Ray (1890-1976), by Van Vechten, 1934.


Rayograph, 1923.


Glass Tears, 1933.



Solarization, 1929.


 

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Documenting the World




Her artist’s lens showed/
That she had “seen their faces”/
It made us see, too. 



Plainfield High School graduate Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971), 
by Van Vechten, 1938.











Monday, October 22, 2012

Memento Mori: Capturing Photographers Week


Her life’s simile/
“Like a duck to water” her/
Chosen lens of truth. 



Photographer Berenice Abbott (1898-1991), by Van Vechten, 1938.

 
"The Night View," 1936.  Photo by Berenice Abbott.



Friday, October 19, 2012

Thus Ends "Tragic Mulatto" Week


Forging a career/
Enduring racial zeitgeist/
This beauty triumphed. 



Lena Horne (1917-2010), by Van Vechten, 1941.


 

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Against the Grain



Masking her dissent/
A subversive “Peola”/
Filters through in spite.  



Fredi Washington (1903-1994), by Van Vechten, 1933.