The Family of Man by Edward Steichen

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While thumbing through my copy of an original catalog from the Family of Man exhibition, I can’t help but to think of the various types of people in attendance, class, race, gender, all under the same roof, sharing the same air, viewing the same image. However I also can’t help but to think about how very different the photographs must have appeared to the individuals at the show.

We all “see” a photograph through our own filters—filters made up from our past experiences. These experiences change the way we interpret an image. A wealthy, upscale female viewing this photograph by Consuelo Kanaga, at the Family of Man will perceive it very differently then a African American woman of the lower-class. Our filters affect the ways in which we relate to images. Our biases control our emotional responses and, therefore, our interpretations. The Family of Man encapsulated all that is the Human Race in such a way as to relate each of us to the essential qualities of one another, the qualities that make us human.

In the words of Carl Sandburg:

The first cry of a newborn baby in Chicago or Zamboango, in Amsterdam or Rangoon, has the same pitch and key, each saying, “I am! I have come through! I belong! I am a member of the Family!”

Let the notions set in motion by the collection of images presented in The Family of Man be your starting point as you create great photographs, images that represent your culture, your race, your humanity. Share your passion with the rest of us and allow your filters and biases, that make you unique, both inform your work and empower your way of seeing.

by John Trefethen