The Family of Man

[SLIU]

Bought a 1955 hardcopy in a neighborhood used bookstore for $8.50 on Mother's Day.

For those of you old enough to experience the book or the exhibit itself, I wonder what you thought about it then and what you think about it now.

[connealy]

I went to the bookstore not long ago with the intent of buying a copy.  In leafing through it, though, I found that the pictures were so familiar to me that I really didn't feel a need for the book any longer.  
. . I was very impressed with the book when it first appeared.  More recently, I tend to agree with the criticism that the editing of the show and book was rather heavy-handed, presenting an unrealistic, excessively upbeat, over-simplified view of humanity.  One of the very few images depicting anything negative was that amazing anonymous shot of the jews being escorted by German guards through a burning city (Warsaw?).  Even in this case, however, the central message is the dignity, courage and beauty of the captives in the face of imminent death.  Nothing wrong with that as far as it goes, but the positive spin eventually gets a bit tiresome.
. . I think that there has also been some accusations that Steichen applied his rather conservative good-news esthetic to his curatorial work generally, and that may have had a negative impact on photojournalism and socially conscious work.  I don't know how important that influence really was.

[SLIU]

I was very impressed with the book when it first appeared.  More recently, I tend to agree with the criticism that the editing of the show and book was rather heavy-handed, presenting an unrealistic, excessively upbeat, over-simplified view of humanity.  ...

Interestingly, I used to agree with those criticism but now as a new father, I rediscovered the value of the book. The more I read into these "cliche", the more I realize that it is I who over-simplified. It is definitely a book deeper than the first sweat impression.

[connealy]

There are a lot of great pictures.  Some of them had considerable influence on how I saw and conducted my life after I viewed them.  Still, to have just one facet of humanity featured seems a distortion to me.  
. . I should confess a prejudice which probably contributes to my view of the book.  I generally dislike any kind of group show in which the work of many photographers is lumped together.  In such a show, it seems to me that the photos are robbed of some of their individual worth to support the idea of the organizer, which may be rather shallow compared to what is contained in the pictures when viewed individually, or in a selection by the same artist.

[SLIU]

In such a show, it seems to me that the photos are robbed of some of their individual worth to support the idea of the organizer, which may be rather shallow compared to what is contained in the pictures when viewed individually, or in a selection by the same artist.

I totally agree with you. The only photographs that show some distinguished individually are several by Robert Frank. I wonder how they survived Steichen's dictatorship.