Movie Monday - The Photo League

1. What was The Photo League's credo?
   The Photo League's credo was that the camera was more than a means of recording reality; it had the potential to change the world.
2. What organization did The Photo League separate from?
   
   It separated from Workers International Relief. The Photo League was originally known as the Worker's Camera League.
3. What was the workshop?
   "The Workshop" was a documentary photography workshop in which Sid Grossman taught advanced technique classes.
4. Who taught "the workshop?"
   Sid Grossman
5. If you were to devote one year of your life to one project, what project is worth your time and energy?
   I would visit the baseball stadium of every baseball team in the MLB, AAA, AA, etc. and take photos of the lives of these professional and minor league baseball players.
6. What was The Harlem Document?
   The Harlem Document was a collection of portraits of African-Americans and documented all aspects of life in Harlem during the 1930's.
7. Who started The Harlem Document?
   A photo leaguer named Aaron Siskind.
8. A photographer discusses a photograph where "the children looked like they came out of a __________ painting. Who was the painter? 
   Caravaggio
9. Why did the photograph mentioned in #8 look like it was by the painter? 
   The photograph looks similar because the sun illuminates the face of the boy on the very right.
10. Who was Lewis Hine? (name two significant contributions)
    Lewis Hine was an American photographer who inspired the Photo League’s collective portraits of urban life. He was a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee and he also worked for the Red Cross during the Depression to photograph the drought relief in the American South.
11. Who was Weegee?
    Weegee is a nickname for Arthur Felling, who was known for his black and white street photography and his quirky personality.
12. How did The League change when The Nazis took power?
    European immigrants (for example Laudi Jacobi, Erica Cocfer and Lizet Model) fleeing the Nazis immigrated to New York, where they joined the Photo League.
13. How did The League change during WWII?
    The Photo League took a more political stance by using their cameras in support of the war. Feature groups documented war production, parades and parties. Because many male Photo Leaguers joined the U.S. military forces fighting overseas, female members assumed a much larger role in keeping the League running.
14. How did Siskind change after WWII?
    Before, Siskind's style was documentary and realism photography, but after the war he switched to abstract expressionism.
15. What was the Saturday Evening post?
    The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine that started publishing in 1897.
16. Who was Barbara Morgan? What did she photograph?
    Barbara Morgan was a photographer from Kansas who took many photos of modern dancers. She was also a co-founder of the photography magazine Aperture.
17. What eventually undermined the Photo League?
    The Photo League was placed on a government list of communist and fascist organizations.
18. What was the "Growing Menace" mentioned in the film?
    Communism
19. Who agreed to serve as President when The League was under investigation?
    W. Eugene Smith
20. What happened to the league?
    The Photo League eventually disbanded in 1951 after Angela Calomiris testified that it was a front for the Communist Party.