Photographs

Photographs are of Shahn and family members, friends and colleagues in addition to photographs taken by Shahn. Found here are prints of photographs Shahn took in New York City in the early 1930s when his interest in photography was developing, as well as prints from some of his finest images taken for the FSA and the Resettlement Administration. Family photographs include pictures of Judith and Ezra Shahn as children and a young Susanna Shahn. Photos of friends and colleagues include a picture of Shahn and Alexander Calder at the Porta Portese in Rome, circa 1957, and a photo of Shahn with Palma Biccarelli (Director of the Modern Museum in Rome), Louisa Calder and Renato Gattuso, circa 1957. Other friends and colleagues pictured in this series include: Morris Cantor, William Cummings, Jack Eastman, Laura Eastman, Martha Graham, Bartlett Hayes, Helen Hayes, Senator Javits, Harry Knight, Loren Macivor, Joe Ormai (working on the Social Security Building mural, circa 1941), Amadee Ozanfant, Jerome Robbins, Nelson Rockefeller, Nate Saltenstall, Charles Sheeler, David Smith, James Thrall Soby, Monroe Wheeler, and William Zorach. There is also a photo of Shahn at Trianon Press in Paris, France, with M. Crompe Pochoiriete. Also found are photos of Shahn receiving Honorary Doctorates from Harvard and Princeton Universities and a medal from George Biddle. Photographs taken by Shahn of New York City in the 1930s include prints of photos used for his paintings Handball (1939) (see Box 34, Folder 6) and Blind Accordion Player (1945) (see Box 34, Folder 10). FSA photographs taken by Shahn of North Carolina ( box 33, folder 33) are of children musicians used as the source for his painting, Song (1950.) Photographs taken by others include a mounted print inscribed on the back: "Hello Ben, Dorothea Lange. Made in St. George, Utah, 1956"; a photograph by Walker Evans, circa 1929, and two FSA photos taken by Russell Lee and Arthur Rothstein.