Willard Van Dyke
| Willard Van Dyke | |
|---|---|
Van Dyke in 1963
|
|
| Born | December 5, 1906 |
| Died | January 23, 1986 (aged 79) |
| Known for | Photography, Film Director |
| Awards | George Eastman Award |
Willard Van Dyke (December 5, 1906 – January 23, 1986) was an American filmmaker, photographer, arts administrator, teacher, and former director of the film department at the Museum of Modern Art. Van Dyke went to the University of California, dropping out for a time to avoid taking an ROTC course.
Van Dyke died in January 23, 1986 of a heart attack on his way to Cambridge, Mass., where he was named Laureate Artist in Residence at Harvard. He was 79 years old. Van Dyke is survived by his second wife, the former Barbara Millikin, of New York; a daughter, Alison Van Dyke, of Ithaca, N.Y.; three sons, Peter of New York City; Murray of Santa Fe and Neil of Stowe, Vt., and six grandchildren.
Van Dyke’s involvement with photography started when he was young. He recalled that "I had been playing around with a camera and developing my own pictures since I was 12 years of age." In 1928, he went to see a photographic exhibition at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, where he not only saw some Edward Weston’s work but met him. It was a life-changing experience.
In 1928, he apprenticed with Edward Weston and by 1932 co-founded Group f/64, with Imogen Cunningham, Ansel Adams, and Weston. The group’s approach emphasized both sharp and deep focus (sometimes called straight photography) in contrast with the painterly approach of many other photographers. Van Dyke soon abandoned still photography, saying in a 1982 documentary based on his life that he did not want to compete with his closest friend, Weston.
Van Dyke's photographs were marked by a tendency to address social issues, as in portraits of migrant workers, as well as purely formal subjects. This interest apparently led him to documentary films. "The effects of the Depression were very disturbing to me, and I felt anxious to promote change," he once said to an interviewer. "I was young and impatient, and felt that the documentary film would more effectively communicate issues to more people than would still photography." (New York Times) He also suggested that he abandoned photography because he did not want to compete with his closest friend, Weston.
In 1935, Van Dyke moved to New York City and began making documentary films. He served as a cameraman on The River (1938) directed by Pare Lorentz. He also worked with NYKINO, the film organization that involved Paul Strand, Ralph Steiner, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. His film The City (1939) with Steiner, ran for two years at the New York World's Fair of 1939. During World War II, he worked the OWI Overseas Motion Picture Bureau, acting as liaison officer between the OWI and a Hollywood writers.
...
Wikipedia