A selection of photographs from The Family of Man, 1955
The notion of human rights is a subject that has been at the forefront of international political discussions since the onset of World War 2. In the years leading up to WW2, however, human rights were a relatively new idea. After the failure of the League of Nations, the rise of the Nazi party, and the destruction of the hydrogen bomb, human rights began to be seen as a goal for the worlds citizens to strive for. The democratic nations of the world agreed that guaranteeing specific rights to all human beings was a worthwhile task. In my opinion, the developments of human rights in the post war era helped shape the world into the largely democratic and harmonious society we have today.
The photographs above are taken from The Family of Man, a photo exhibition organized in 1955 by Edward Steichen. They show families from Africa, Italy, Japan, and the United States. Steichen’s goal was to create a series of photographs that would capture the positive and negative aspects of being a human being in the 1950’s. His collection of 503 pictures created a beautiful journey in which people could see and learn about the homogeneity that existed in the world. Although Steichen’s work was seen by some as a propaganda tool to sway people to American democracy and away from Soviet authoritarianism, the photographs true value is that they showed the citizens of the world that there were common experiences and ordeals between all members of the human race. Fred Turner’s article, “The Family of Man and the Politics of Attention in Cold War America” argues these claims. Turner believes that The Family of Man should be seen as a triumph for democracy and individualism. Turner describes in detail the part of the exhibit that I found most interesting. He writes, “When they turned and walked past the soldier, visitors entered a chamber and faced the one color image in the show: an
eight-foot-tall transparency of a mushroom cloud” (Turner, 80). This usage of the image of the hydrogen bomb is extremely significant. It really drove home the message that all human beings are equal and the same, and that forces such as atomic warfare were capable of destroying us as an entire species. I think that using this image like this is genius and very thought provoking. After a whole montage of pictures showing how the lives of humans are similar, Steichen instantly shows how insignificant some of the world’s problems are when compared with nuclear holocaust.
For me, the idea of human rights is a universal belief that all humans are allowed the right to a happy and healthy life. Projects like The Family of Man were monumental in helping citizens all over the world to realize this concept. Although some argue it was a piece of American imperialism, I believe that the work of Steichen and other politicians and historians were crucial to the world finally adopting these essential ideas.
I thought it really brought the point home in the “Family of Man” how if you were an optimist you could see the pictures of people around the world and be convinced of humans singularity or if you were a pessimist seeing the mushroom cloud would show that weapons of mass destruction do not discriminate and kill us all equally no matter who or what we are. Your blog post touched on the fact that behind all of the “We are the World” hope there was a lurking threat.
Do you think he truly captured the full negative aspects of human life, or did he capture moments of negative aspects of human life? If he captured moments were the significant enough to ignore the smaller negative aspects of human life?
In terms of how divided and fragmented I believe you highlighted the most important point “The photographs true value is that they showed the citizens of the world that there were common experiences and ordeals between all members of the human race” In such a turbulent era, I would agree that these photos helped people forget that regardless of where they were in the world, we are all the same in terms of the challenges that we face. I would argue that these photos were a step in the right direction in terms of trying to united humans as a whole rather than divide them by ideals or cultures.
I believe that you hit it right on the head in regards to the exhibit establishing connections between all the citizens of the world. The exhibit truly creates a feeling of family. It is unique to the times and very important.
I agree with your comments about the use of the photo of the hydrogen bomb at the end of the exhibit. It was an excellent way to punctuate the end of the exhibit that brought the whole message of the exhibit together. I don’t really see how it can be claimed that this exhibit was a triumph of democracy from what you use in your post, so how do you see it being such.
I would have to agree with your analysis of the exhibit. I think that while there are always biases and hidden motives for this type of project that will shape the content, I think that this exhibit accomplished the task of creating a connection amongst the various people of the world. Following WWII, the world was a very fractured place and I think that seeing images like these help shift the focus off of the individual nations and are able to speak to the larger issues. Obviously the exhibit was extremely popular because of its duration, the fact that it was moved all over the world, and the very positive response from the people that viewed it. Does this necessarily mean that people all over the world value the same things as the Americans who created the exhibit (i.e. the nuclear family, a patriarchal society, etc.) or does this project tap into something else on a more universal level? Do the details really matter? I don’t think that they do in this case.