Folk Photography Poems I've never Written popular Joe Schwartz, Humanist Photographer, Black History, Urban Landscapes and Bonus book!

"When not impinged on by prejudiced home atmospheres, communicating humans, young and old, of various races and national origins of engaged in shared activities, showing healthy attitudes despite poor environmental conditions." This apparently casual comment by Joe Schwartz aptly captures the essence of his lifes work as a documentary photographer and immediately distinguishes him among the many photographers whose works have been grouped under the rubric of the legendary Photo League, the politically progressive organization of amateurs and professional photographers that flourished in New York from 1936 to 1951. Photo League photographers shared a commitment to portraying the lives of Americas working people in their urban environment, and these commitments often extended to the realistic portrayal of African-Americans as well. Joes loving depictions of street scenes and neighborhood life certainly fall within this genre. But none of these photographers portrayed African-Americans as an integral feature of their environment that is to say, in integrated settings with greater depth or passion than Joe Schwartz. He goes beyond technique to record day-to-day history from the viewpoint of a compassionate artist. -- BURGESS MEREDITH Joe Schwartz's vision emanates from the inside out. His views are expressions of his experiences and values. -- Santa Barbara Museum of Art Joes subjects span the scale from calm to dramatic, from light to dark, and from young to old. -- Scripps College, Claremont, CA Joe Schwartz speaks and writes with an unabashed sense of nostalgia for the past, particularly the streets of urban Brooklyn that he once knew in the 1920s and the 1930s; and the vibrant world of public housing as he experienced it in the Kingsboro Housing Project where he lived, worked, and organized in the years following World War II. These experiences have clearly nourished his sensibility, his social commitments, his politics. His photographs provide a visual vocabulary, a way of seeing and talking about the urban landscape that is diametrically opposed to the bleak, nihilistic images of city life that have become standard features of American popular culture a vision of the possibilities of life in American cities now thoroughly discredited in many circles. What makes his images so compelling in his clear-eyed and clear-headed popular insistence upon the inherent dignity of human beings in spite of their dire economic conditions; upon the possibilities of human communities based upon shared values and aspirations that cut across racial lines; and upon the values of living in a multi-racial, multi-ethnic American society. --JAMES A. MILLER, Director African American Studies, George Washington University Publisher ‏ : ‎ Joe Schwartz; 1st edition (June 20, 2000) Language ‏ : ‎ English Paperback ‏ : ‎ 244 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0965653552 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0965653558 Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.56 pounds Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14 x 11 x 3 inches BONUS!! Poems I've Never Written Photography Exhibition Catalogue In Honor Of Black History Month June 1994 Cal Poly University,San Luis Obispo, CA Both will be carefully packaged and promptly shipped via USPS with tracking.