Edited by Randi Bjornstad

Photography at Oregon’s Last Friday Movie Night meets on April 24 in its new location in the New Zone Gallery at 110 E. 11th Ave., at the corner of 11th and Oak streets in downtown Eugene.

The film will be Paul Strand — Under the Dark Cloth, an approximately 80-minute film by John Walker about Strand, aka the “Father of Straight Photography.”

The doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the movie begins at 7 p.m.

As usual, admission is free, but donations are welcome to help defray the costs of the evening. Popcorn and conversation are included in the evening’s activities.

Here’s a description of the film, prepared originally by the International Documentary Film Association, aka idfa:

“I never look for the things that I photograph. They find me. If I see something, then it is because it is outside of me and not inside me, it stops me in my tracks and quietly but insistently says: “Look at me, look at this over there.”

Paul Strand (1890-1976) is one of the most important photographers of this century. He was an artist who early in his career broke off with the romantic tradition. This dominant movement in photography utilized picturesque arrangements, semi-artistic effects, and nostalgic atmospheric images. The style that Paul Strand used in 1915 was sober, he used an objective aestheticism that directly addressed the public. His photographs illustrated his view of the present.

The revolutionary innovations in painting by Picasso and Braque did not go by unnoticed by Strand. He did not restrict himself to portraits but also concentrated on abstract images of merely photogenic forms. He made shots of nature using an extreme close-up lens, and photo-studies of machines and other mechanical constructions. Another aspect of his talent was perfected in photographs showing the merciless sides of city life. At the same time, Strand applied his visual talent in the short film manahatta, the first American avant-garde documentary.

The film strand – under the dark cloth is a technically perfect portrait of an intriguing and influential artist. Director John Walker has seized the opportunity to place Strand’ work in history and to give him the chance a revenge the fact that he was often underestimated.

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