Willard Van Dyke

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Willard Van Dyke (born December 5, 1906 in Denver , Colorado , † January 23, 1986 in Jackson , Tennessee ) was an American photographer and important filmmaker .

Life

Born in Denver in 1906, Willard Van Dyke grew up on a farm; later he moved to California , where his father and, from 1928, Edward Weston taught him photography.

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In 1932, together with Imogen Cunningham , John Paul Edwards , Ansel Adams , Henry Swift , Sonya Noskowiak and Edward Weston, he founded the group f / 64 , which was quite dogmatic in advocating photography with the greatest possible depth of field (symbolized by the name of the group, which shows a very small aperture) and maximum level of detail.

At first Van Dyke dealt with abstract and beautiful motifs, but, influenced by the Great Depression, he turned away from photography in 1935 and moved to New York to make documentaries. He joined Frontier Films a little later . His film The City , which he directed with Ralph Steiner in 1938 , was shown at the first New York World's Fair for two years . During the Second World War he mainly produced propaganda films (e.g. The Bridge ), but soon returned to documentaries. In 1947 he finished his film on Edward Weston The Photographer . His films mainly show the problems of the working class in America and are still today considered cinematic masterpieces and valuable documentation of the conditions in America.

Between 1964 and 1974 he was director of the film department of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Filmography

Director

camera

producer

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Biography of Willard Van Dyke in SFMOMA
  2. ↑ Willard Van Dyke in the IMDb
personal data
SURNAME Van Dyke, Willard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American photographer and filmmaker
DATE OF BIRTH 5th December 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Denver , Colorado
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1986
Place of death Jackson , Tennessee