American Photography
by Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Harris Yulin, Leonard NimoyDirector: Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer
Brand: PBS
Cinematographer: Tom Hurwitz
Producer: Ellen Hovde
Producer: Muffie Meyer
Editor: Eric Davies
Editor: Kathleen Dougherty
Editor: Sharon Sachs
Producer: Sharon Sachs
Producer: John Schott
Producer: Ronald Blumer
Writer: Ronald Blumer
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Unknown; English (Original Language), Unknown
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 160 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-10-21
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS
Movie Reviews of American Photography
Movie Review: A picture says a thousand words
Summary: 5 Stars
In no other aspect has the photograph been so impressive as in the documentation of events and in the immortilization of history. To prove a point: the documentary's first video is of a 1999 display of photographs lost in a massive hurricane. Photos were lined up in a hall and residents had to sort through them to find their lost treasures. Nothing is more lost in a disaster as the loss of old photographs. It is the one connection we have with the past.
I had the opportunity to play this video for a high school photography class one day, watching several chapters twice to allow it to sink in. There were few aspects let out.
This 160-minute video is divided into three parts: Photography from 1900-1934 (with a lot of pre-1900 history of photography; 1935-1959; and 1960-1999. The last part also discusses photographic alterations and the legal aspect of that trickery.
One realizes after watching this documentary how effective still photographs have been in influencing people and governmental policies, both good and bad. Photographs of murder victims as well as criminals, crime scenes, battle scenes, disaster scenes, historical events such as World War I, the Great Depression, Big City crimes with the mafia, World War II, the Civil Rights Era, Vietnam and anti-war protests, the first photographs of the moon, the Gulf War, and even presidential candidates are featured here. What the viewer gets in this documentary is not just remembering some of these haunting photographs, but also the background story to these photographs. Photographers, former news reporters and editors, even some artists are featured in this work.
Some current students may say this documentary is already ten years outmoded, which it is. Digital photography first became marketable in the late 1990s, and 35mm film was sold profitably until 2004. No mention of Thomas Franklin, the Newark photographer who took the photograph of the firefighters hoisting a dusty, torn flag after the New York Trade Center terrorist act of 2001. But, this is one topic educators could use to continue to theory of still photography.
This documentary should be required viewing for all photography students, but social historians will also find this work quite impressive.
Summary of American Photography
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