The human family. A new understanding of the place of photography in global society | The art of photography | lecture

Discover one of the most important events in the history of humanistic photography. During March’s meeting in the Art of Photography series, we will go back to 1955. It was then that Edward Steichen, photographer and curator, then director of the Photography Department at New York’s MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, prepared the exhibition “The Family of Man.” Steichen and his colleagues selected 503 black-and-white photographs taken by 273 authors from 68 countries. The title, taken from a poem by Carl Sandburg, emphasized the global nature of the project. The exhibition was intended to be a portrait of humanity at that time. It was received with great enthusiasm and, after several months in New York, set off on a world tour. It reached an audience of over ten million people in 38 countries. In Poland, it was presented in seven different cities at the turn of 1959-60. In 2003, the exhibition of the year was inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. Currently, “The Family of Man” can be viewed at the Chateu Clervaux castle in Luxembourg.

It is difficult to overestimate the significance of the exhibition for the development of humanistic photography. It had a significant influence on many artists, but at the same time it initiated many discussions on social issues, in which Susan Sontag and Roland Barthes, among others, took part.

Stanisław Jasiński, photographer, photography instructor, member of the Association of Polish Art Photographers, will talk about the exhibition “The Family of Man,” its impact on the development of humanistic photography, and several similar projects from subsequent years. He is an expert on the history of photography and a collector of antique cameras and other artifacts related to this field of art.