Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Alexander Alland, Sr., Photoprints

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0204
Creators:
Ostroff, Eugene, d. 1999 (NMAH Curator)
Salo, Matt, Dr.
Haberstich, David E., 1941-
Ahlborn, Richard E., 1933-2015
Alland, Alexander, Sr. (Alexander Landschaft), 1902-1989
Dates:
1985 - 1986
1930 - 1943
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.25 Cubic feet
4 boxes
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection contains 273 silver gelatin photoprints (Series 1), most of which apparently were made during the 1930s and early 1940s, contemporaneously with the original negatives. All are 8" x 10" or slightly smaller, unmounted except for flush mounted linen on the backs of some prints. The photographs were made primarily in two locations, New York City and the Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands pictures were made as part of a special documentary project in 1939, as described above, whereas the New York photographs stem from Mr. Alland's largely self assigned documentation of various ethnic and religious groups in New York from approximately 1932 to 1943. The projects include photographs of the "Red Bandanna" Romany Gypsy group in the Bowery, a black Jewish congregation, Mohawk Indians in Brooklyn, and other groups, which required extensive exploration, research, and photographing over periods of many days or weeks. A variety of miscellaneous ethnic and religious groups are covered in the general "Other Religions" and "Nationalities" folders. The contents of the "Judaism" folder include primarily New York sites and people, but there are also additional views of a synagogue from the Virgin Islands project.
Series 2 of the collection contains four cassette tape recordings of two interviews with Mr. Alland, three made by Richard Ahlborn (with Eugene Ostroff and Matt Salo) in 1985, and one by David Haberstich and Richard Ahlborn, June 2-3, 1986 (at which time the photographs were donated). The tapes include readings from his autobiography, personal reminiscences on his experiences as an immigrant and a photographer, and commentary on the photographs.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1: Photoprints, 1930-1943
Series 2: Audiotape Cassettes, 1985-1986
The photographs are arranged topically and by nationality.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Alexander Alland, Sr., was born in Sevastopol, Crimea (formerly in the Soviet Union) on 6 August 1902. His last name originally was Landschaft, but he legally changed it to Alland following the birth of his son. Alland's interest in photography began at the age of twelve, when he helped a local photographer with darkroom work. He constructed his own camera from cardboard with a simple meniscus lens and exposed glass plate negatives with the device.
Toward the end of the Civil War in Russia in 1920, Alland relocated in Constantinople, Turkey, where he was hired as an apprentice by a graduate of the Vienna Academy of Photography. When the Union Nationale des Combatants Francais went on a pilgrimage to Gallipoli, a former battle zone on the Dardanelles, he was asked to accompany them in order to document events. After having his request for a pay increase refused, he left his employer two years later and opened his own portrait studio, "Photo d'Art Russe." When civil unrest threatened Constantinople in 1923, he decided to emigrate to the United States.
During his first years in the United States he worked in photo finishing businesses while engaged in home portraiture independently. He married in 1929 and a son, Alexander, Jr., was born. In the 1930s he became one of the best known photographers portraying the life of immigrants and various ethnic groups in New York. (1) In 1936 he was appointed supervisor of the Photo Mural section of the W.P.A. Federal Art Project, and worked as a free lance photographer for magazines and periodicals featuring the activities of various ethnic groups living in New York City. He specialized in making photomurals with montage techniques. (2)
In 1937 Alland became photography instructor at the American Artists' School and joined the American Artists Congress. In 1939, his first book, Portrait of New York, was published and he became president of the "Exploration Photo Syndicate" and went to the U.S. Virgin Islands as part of a project to produce a pictorial record of the West Indian Islands. His photographs appeared in publications and were exhibited at the New School for Social Research and at the Schomberg Collection. In 1942 he joined the staff of Common Ground magazine as photography editor and was appointed by the National Youth Administration to supervise their photography workshop. His book American Counterpoint appeared in 1943 and was selected as "One of the Fifty Best Books of the Year." The original prints from that book were exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York, which also exhibited a portfolio of his work on American Gypsies. In 1944 he became director of an agency, "Pictures for Democracy," and in 1945 his book The Springfield Plan was proclaimed another "One of the Fifty Best Books of the Year."
During World War II Alland did technical photography for the War Department, receiving a commendation for this work. After another book My Dog Rinty was published, he left New York City to establish a school of photography, combined with a school of dance directed by his wife, Alexandra, a professional dancer and choreographer. (3) He then began to exhibit his own photographs and to collect glass plate negatives and vintage prints by significant photographers. He is perhaps best known for locating a collection of Jacob Riis negatives and making them available. In 1974 Aperture published his biography, Jacob A. Riis: Photographer and Citizen4. Because of his efforts in providing the Riis negatives to the Museum of the City of New York, that institution awarded a special commemorative medal to him in 1973. The Riis book was followed by two more studies of photographers, Jessie Tarbox Beals, First Woman News Photographer (5) and Heinrich Tonnies, Cartes de Visite Photographer Extraordinaire. (6)
Retrospective exhibitions of Alland's work were held in two major Danish museums in summer 1979 and he was honored for contributions to the cultural history of Denmark. In 1991 studies for his photomural work were included in an historical survey exhibition of American photomontage at the University of Maryland at College Park. (7).
Sources
1. My text is based upon the biographical information recorded on my taped interviews with Mr. Alland in this collection, but see also Bonnie Yochelson, The Committed Eye: Alexander Alland's Photography. New York: The Museum of the City of New York, Inc., 1991.
2. Merry A. Foresta, "Art and Document: Photography of the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project," in Official Images: New Deal Photography (essays by Foresta, Pete Daniel, Maren Stange, and Sally Stein), Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1987, p. 153, based on an interview with Alland, January 1987.
3. Photographic historian Anne Peterson, contractor for three Archives Center photographic collection projects between 1986 and 1982, reports that she studied ballet as a child with Mrs. Alland.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid
7. See catalog by Cynthia Wayne, Dreams, Lies, and Exaggeration: Photomontage in America. The Art Gallery, University of Maryland at College Park, 1991 (exhibition at the gallery Oct. 21 Dec. 20, 1991).

Administration

Author
David Haberstich
Location of Originals
Original negatives in the Estate of Alexander Alland, Sr., P.O. Box 267, No. Salem, N.Y. 10560.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated by Alexander Alland, June 3, 1986.
Processing Information
Collection processed by David Haberstich, 1982; revised August 5, 1986, assisted by Milton Dolinka and Elizabeth Berman (sections on Judaism), and some captions by Sheila Salo (Gypsy section); revised by David Haberstich, October 8, 1992.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Alexander Alland, Sr., Photoprints, 1932-1943, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of the artist.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyrighted material: photographs may not be reproduced without written permission from the Estate of Alexander Alland, Sr.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.

Related Materials
Materials in the Archives Center
Carlos de Wendler Funaro Gypsy Research Collection (AC0161)
Contains additional Alland photographs. De Wendler Funaro also photographed Steve Kaslov, his family, and his Bowery coppersmith workshop.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Synagogues -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- New York, N.Y. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Virgin Islands -- 1930-1940 Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs -- 1900-1950 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newspapers -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- New York N.Y. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oral history -- 1980-1990 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Muslims -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- New York N.Y. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York (N.Y.) -- 1930-1940 Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Minorities -- Housing -- 1930-1940 -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Minorities -- Housing -- 1930-1940 -- Virgin Islands Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews -- 1980-2000 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Judaism -- Customs and practices Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Housing -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- New York N.Y. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Immigrants -- 1930-1940 -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Audio cassettes -- 1980-1990 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Housing -- 1930-1940 -- Virgin Islands Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Buddhism -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- New York N.Y. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bowery (New York, N.Y.) -- 1930-1940 Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chinatown (New York, N.Y.) -- 1930-1940 Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Catholic Church -- Liturgy Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chinese drama -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Churches -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- New York N.Y. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clergy -- 1930-1940 -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Coppersmiths -- 1930-1950 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ethnic costume Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ethnic groups -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- New York N.Y. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Falashas -- 1930-1940 -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fortune-tellers -- Gypsies -- 1930-1940 -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pluralism Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Poverty -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- Virgin Islands Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printing -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- New York N.Y. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Protestant churches -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- New York N.Y. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Religious and ecclesiastical institutions -- Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- New York N.Y. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Singers -- 1930-1950 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
St. Thomas (Virgin Islands) -- 1930-1940 Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Synagogues -- 1930-1940 -- Virgin Islands Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
China Daily News -- Photographs Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
China Daily News -- 1930-1940 -- New York N.Y. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Davis, Earl Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kaslov, Steve, ca. 1888-1949 (King of the Red Bandanna Romany Gypsies ) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Works Progress Administration Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
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Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
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