In January of the year 1955, an ambitious exhibit was displayed in New York Museum of Modern Arts. Titled The Family of Man, the exhibit was curated by Edward Steichen and displayed photographs taken by over two hundred photographers from around the globe. However, more than half of these photographers were in fact American which gave the exhibit a more western perspective. Nonetheless, the exhibit succeeded in being something that was able to communicate to people from around the planet, regardless of race, religion, language, or nationality. Of all of the photographs, however, the most captivating was the image of the mushroom cloud.
This image made it clear that the risk of atomic devastation was a very real threat in the world that they lived in and viewing the image added to the fears of many that they would be decimated with a nuclear strike at any time. Written next to one of the photographs were these words, “The best authorities are unanimous in saying the war with hydrogen bombs is quite likely to put an end to the human race. There will be universal death — sudden only for a fortunate minority, but for the majority a slow torture of disease and disintegration.” Language such as this struck fear into the hearts of the guests and made many even more worried of atomic annihilation.
The purpose of the exhibit was, at its core, to show the “oneness” of the human race. It was to show that people are very much similar, though it may not seem that way at times. For example, there were different races and nationalities in all of his photographs yet his pictures illustrated the similarities between people that were even separated by oceans. Steichen attempted to bring people together through common struggles, something that I think he effectively did through his exhibit. Though many critics argue about the political ramifications of the exhibit as a whole, it is difficult to argue that the exhibit itself did not at the very least make people see that they were not all that different from other human beings.
The Family of Man exhibit displayed people of many different races, religions, and nationalities.
I enjoyed that your post focused both of the image of the Hydrogen Bomb and how people are more similar than they are different. That is how I viewed the article as well and wrote about it in my post . I enjoyed that you included the caption from the exhibit because it reinforced the idea that if there was a nuclear war no one would come out a victor. People would die as soon as it dropped and for many years after because of the Nuclear radiation that would be a consequence of the bomb. Do you think that this quote can be seen as propaganda?
I like how you touched on the fact that most of the photographers from this exhibit were American. I do believe that the overall message of “oneness” was effective. However, do you think it is important to include the perspectives of many different cultural backgrounds in order to achieve this message more fully? I do believe that these photographers played on stereotypes that are intrinsic in not understanding another culture. Were people who saw this exhibit and agreed with the sentiment of “the family of man” supporting stereotypes? At the end of your blog you say that the exhibit “made people see that they were not all that different from other human beings.” I agree that people saw patterns in the way of life that mimicked their own lives. However, I also think people saw differences between themselves and others. I think that seeing the poor Japanese family and polygamous African family enforced the differences and stereotypes they believed going into the exhibit. But of course, their process of life was the aspect that which people identified and took away from the exhibit.
I like how you brought up the quote, “The best authorities are unanimous in saying the war with hydrogen bombs is quite likely to put an end to the human race. There will be universal death — sudden only for a fortunate minority, but for the majority a slow torture of disease and disintegration.” in your blog. I think they included this in the exhibit to show that the hydrogen bomb would affect everyone even if it wasn’t dropped on them or the ones dropping it. This would help to show how the exhibit was trying to convey the message of unity. This would also show how everyone is more similar and reinforces Steichen’s purpose for the exhibit.
I like how you brought in the atomic bomb picture to your post, not many others did that. I think having that depicted in contrast with photos of people from around the world really sets the tone of the time. There was a general fear during the whole of the Cold War of nuclear conflict. I think showing the atomic bomb to guests would allow them to understand that if this type of conflict occurred, then every human on the planet would be affected. In my personal opinion I don’t see any subversive nature of race or politics in his exhibit. I do think his lay out and theme was meant to contrast the authoritarian regimes of Germany and Italy he observed during the war, and that he wanted to people to observe other people doing and looking the same way around the globe. I think it was a way of bringing people together rather than tearing them apart.
I like that your post focused more on the repercussions of the atomic bomb than the societal implications of the exhibit. You do a good job of showing how the atomic bomb would effect people all over the world and the kind of devastation that would occur should that type of war break out.
Your interpretation of the reading was very similar to my own. I did not necessarily see it as propaganda, but rather as an artist’s interpretation of his own time. After reading the article I wish I could have been there to see the original exhibit at the MOMA. It must have been incredibly powerful to have witnessed. I like that you noted that most of the pictures were taken by American photographers. This certainly changes the perspective of the image, however I do not feel that it deters from Steichen’s overall exhibit. Rather than seeing it as Western bias I viewed it as the author’s own point of view.
I appreciate how you mentioned the image of the mushroom cloud and the moving caption that went with it. Through that one can really see the aims that Steichen had when he created the Family Man exhibit. He wanted people to realize that war, especially this new and devastating kind of war in the nuclear age, was not the answer and could in fact bring about a terrible and torturous end to the entire human race. He wanted all people, if not just Americans, to stop seeing only the petty differences between one another in the hopes that they might then realize that we are all one people and the only way to move forward into a better future, was as one.