Today’s Post by Joe Farace
I sort of believe that a picture is like a prayer; you’re offering a prayer to get something, and in a sense it’s like a gift of God because you have practically no control—at least I don’t.— Harry Callahan
I find it interesting, almost amusing, that one of the most innovative photographers of the past century has the same name as Clint Eastwood’s character in the Dirty Harry films.
When I talk with photographers and mention Harry Callahan’s name it seems that most of them, unless they were trained at a classical photography or art school, never heard of the guy. In my own case it was Jack Wilgus, my instructor at the Maryland Institute, College of Art who introduced me to the work of Callahan. Although I consider Callahan’s work to be the one that influenced me the most. yes even more than the movies.
Harry Morey Callahan was born in Detroit. He worked at Chrysler when he was a young man then left the company to study engineering at Michigan State University. He dropped out of school, returned to Chrysler and while there joined its camera club. Callahan began teaching himself photography in 1938 and in 1941 attending a presentation by Ansel Adams inspired him to take his work more seriously. In 1946 László Moholy-Nagy invited him to teach photography at the Institute of Design in Chicago. He moved to Rhode Island in 1961 to establish a photography program at the Rhode Island School of Design, teaching there until his retirement in 1977.
Callahan met his future wife, Eleanor Knapp, on a blind date in 1933. At that time she was a secretary at Chrysler Motors in Detroit and he was a clerk. They married three years later and went on to become his Muse and the subject of some of his later work. Mr. Callahan passed away in Atlanta in 1999.
Here are some of his thoughts:
- I really didn’t have much to teach. I didn’t even believe in it. I felt so strongly that everybody had to find their own way… In terms of art, the only real answer that I know of is to do it. If you don’t do it, you don’t know what might happen.
- To be a photographer, one must photograph. No amount of book learning, no checklist of seminars attended, can substitute for the simple act of making pictures. Experience is the best teacher of all. And for that, there is no guarantee that one will become an artist. Only the journey matters.
- I think what photography can do really well is allow you to make a life’s work… So theoretically—the series is first, then the group is next, and the whole life’s work is the grand finale. (1979)
I urge you to visit your local library and see if they have any books by Harry Callahan. You can also purchase some of his books on Amazon, such as Harry Callahan: The Photographer at Work or my personal favorite Harry Callahan: Color, 1941-1980, But there’s several others as well. Read them and like me become inspired.