Words on Pictures

Cinema and the Document "The slow appreciation of the cinema as an art form may be laid at the oversight of dual but compatible functions of all art, of all pictorial productions. While the moving pictures document and record realistically that which we have seen, experienced and heard, nevertheless they are designed and produced under the same basic principles which condition all other types if pictorial composition. Consideration of any film discovers that the amount of story-telling elements and the subjective content is slight when compared to the amount of production craftmanship required to make the finished work. Photography in the moving film form has within its projected image every element of art, merged into a whole by editing, direction and conception of the relations of time sequences of events portrayed, of images moving and the balance of tone, light, sound and shape. And just as other art forms, moving pictures are good sources for facts... All films,

New York Public Library's Picture Collection, 1940s. Photo by Wurts Bros. New York Public Library Archives ( Visual Materials, RG10 ).  Worth Beyond Words: Romana Javitz and NYPL Picture Collection.  The general public, especially outside the New York City area, is not familiar with the uniqueness of the New York Public Library's Picture Collection. It provides, much like books, the free circulation of prints, photographs, postcards and other clippings, all arranged using subject classification. And they have been doing it since 1914!  T he story of the origination of the Picture Collection and the career of Romana Javitz (1903-1980) can be found in an essay I wrote in 1995 for  the NYPL journal  Biblion: Worth Beyond Words: Romana Javitz and The New York Public Library's Picture Collection Here is an excerpt: " Within two years of the opening of The New York Public Library's Central Building in 1911, the Print Room found itself overwhelmed with requests for p

Lewis Wickes Hine: Pictures as Documents  Stamped: Photo file: Photographs by Lewis W. Hine          Source: #8446 Subjects: New York City – Tenements Caption: “The doorway to the stables has become the entrance to the rear tenements. The shed at right is used as a horse’s stall. The covered drive way is used as a playground." Locale: Mayer’s Place, New York City Date: 1901s      Stamped: Franziska Gay Schacht Collection. NYPL Picture Collection - Reference File Lewis Wickes Hine (1905-1938) was the perfect kind of photographer for the purposes of documentation. While his intentions were largely one of advocating for social reform, his ability to construct his compositions and pack them with information is what made his work of interest to the New York Public Library's Picture Collection.  In a masterly use of flash Hine encapsulates all manner of subject matter in crisp detail. In addition to housing conditions and children’s welfare, c

  Words on Pictures: Romana and the New York Public Library’s Picture Collection .  edited by Anthony T. Troncale. New York:  Photo Verso Publications, LLC , 2020.    ISBN 978-1-7346409-0-8 (hardcover)   Identifiers ISBN    978-1-7346409-1-5 (ebook) The history of the use of the visual materials and photography in the arts, the sciences and in commerce cannot be told without Romana Javitz (1903-1980) and the story of her 40-year career as the supervisor of the New York Public Library’s Picture Collection.  The New York Public Library’s Picture Collection has been circulating photographs, clippings, prints and postcards to the public for over 105 years. It is a free picture reference service used by many important industries that need visual resources for their work.  Still operating out of t he Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at 42 nd  Street,   the Picture Collection remains an important resource for teachers and historians, designers and illustrators, as well as artists and photo