Author Description

This Catalogue Accompanies Reality Makes Them Dream: American Photography, 1929-1941, Curated By Dr. Josie R. Johnson (stanford Ba '13), The First Capital Group Foundation Curatorial Fellow For Photography At The Cantor Arts Center. The Museum's Inaugural Exhibition Is The First To Explore The Transformative Gift Of More Than One Thousand 20th-century American Photographs By The Capital Group Foundation In 2019. For This Exhibition, Johnson Focused On Holdings Of Photographs Made In The Long 1930s. Her Exhibition And This Book Help Us Reconsider The Great Depression And Illuminate The Ways That Photographers Stimulated Their Imaginations In Spite Of The Very Real Financial, Political, And Cultural Challenges Of The Times. Johnson Chose Five Capital Group Foundation Collection Artists As Anchors For The Ideas Explored In Reality Makes Them Dream: Ansel Adams, John Gutmann, Helen Levitt, Wright Morris, And Edward Weston. In Her Exhibition, The Vision For This Publication, And The Essay She Authored Here, Johnson Interweaves The Capital Group Foundation Collection Images With Additional Works By Other Artists, Building Narratives That Nuance Our Understanding Of American Photography In The 1930s. Her Essay Pushes Against Longstanding Narratives That Overemphasize The Purity Of Straight Photography And The Veracity Of Documentary Photography In This Decade. Her Research Reveals Instead That Many Artists Used The Medium Of Photography To Fuse Reality And Dream Into One. Each Thematic Section Of Reality Makes Them Dream Features An Essay From The Community Of Photography Scholars At Stanford University. Ranging In Academic Training And Professional Affiliations, Their Texts Expand On The Theme Of Reality And Dream In The 1930s With Original Research And Close Readings Of A Small Set Of Prints. Kim Beil, Associate Director Of The Italic Arts Program For Undergraduates, Unearths The Making Of A Mysterious Ansel Adams Photograph-but Only Partially, Dwelling Instead On The Ar