Paul Strand's Life and Works

Paul Strand was an American photographer whose passion was capturing both poverty and technology with the hopes that he could tell a story about his era. He grew up in New York City, where he was exposed to both the newest industries and technologies of the era, and to the abject poverty that defined the lives of many factory workers. For that reason, Strand began using photography as a tool for social reform. He hoped that by capturing the dichotomy of America's wealth and its people's poverty, he could spark a change in the way we view our nation. This, for example, is one of Strand's iconic images from the early 1900s: