The Bookshelf - #8 - The Family of Man
The Family of Man
Edward Streichen and Carl Sandburg
Publisher: The Museum of Modern Art
Available on Amazon from £19.95
The Family of Man is an historically important collection of photos, which is taken from one of the most important exhibitions of photographs that has ever been staged.
The exhibition was collated by Edward Steichen and showcases the works of hundreds of photographers. The final collection is around 500 images and is drawn from a pool of around two million images. Steichen himself says in the opening of this book that the task of curating the final 503 images in the collection was “almost unbearable”.
This wasn’t just any exhibition, this was global statement. Staged in 1955 in the aftermath of the Second World War and at the height of the tensions of the cold war, this exhibition aimed to promote a humanist message: that people everywhere share fundamental experiences, regardless of political or cultural divisions.
Photographs in this collection come from well known photographers shooting for agencies such as Magnum, but also from lesser known photographers which further firms up the intention that this is about collective voice rather than individual voice.
The book itself, I feel tries to convey the “setup” of the original exhibition insomuch as the images are presented at drastically different sizes - there are statement shots which occupy double page spreads and there are some which are presented much smaller or as part of a tableaux which gives a much more intimate feel to the images.
You move through life in this book, which again, as per the original exhibition is present in various visual chapters, birth, love, work, war, death. Images from different cultures are placed side by side to further highlight the shared human experience.
Stylistically, the work draws on a wide range of photographic approaches, from documentary realism to more expressive compositions. Despite this diversity, the images are unified through careful curation and layout, which encourages comparison and connection between different cultures and contexts. The cumulative effect is a powerful sense of shared humanity.
However, The Family of Man is not without criticism. Some argue that its optimistic, humanist message simplifies complex social and political realities, particularly in the context of the Cold War era in which it was produced. Critics suggest that by focusing on universal similarities, it can overlook important differences in power, inequality, and historical context.
Such was the success of the original exhibition that a permanent version now resides in Clervaux Castle, where it has been preserved as a cultural heritage installation with UNESCO World Heritage status.
This is another book in my bookshelf series that I feel you can you really spend some time with, even 70 years, it is really interesting to see how different yet similar different stages of life/rites of passage are across various cultures throughout the world.
The exhibition and therefore the book still matter as it changed photography in 3 key ways
Exhibition design – it redefined how photographs could be displayed and experienced
Curatorial storytelling – it showed that sequencing images could create powerful narratives
Global perspective – it positioned photography as a universal language
For photographers today—including in your own landscape and narrative work—it’s a reminder that how images are presented can be just as important as the images themselves.
You can grab your copy on Amazon by clicking any of the links on this page.
