The Life and Work of Sid Grossman

If you like 20th century B&W photography: Oren recommended a recent remainder to me—friend o' TOP Keith F. Davis's The Life and Work of Sid Grossman, co-published in 2016 by Steidl in Germany and Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York. I'm sorry I didn't know about it early enough that Keith and the publishers could benefit from sales, but you can get it for fifteen bucks from Hamilton Books.

Sid Grossman was an interesting character. In essence a teacher, he was one of the founders of New York's Photo League. (I believe the last surviving member of the old Photo League just died, but I've lost the reference.) Sid died young—he was only 42. His friend N. Jay Jaffee said his attitude was "arrogant and aggressive." He was a social activist who was denounced as a communist in the '40s—which also eventually spelled the end of the Photo League. His widow, Miriam Grossman Cohen, said that his inclusion in the show "The Radical Camera" at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, in 2013, "has pleased my bruised heart. At last he was vindicated. He was not a Communist spy. He was not anything but a brilliant photographer, a beautiful teacher and a good guy to those who loved him."

Sid Grossman, Aguadulce, Panama, c. 1945, from the back cover of the book

His tonal palette is grimy, darkish, and blurry, and his compositions are claustrophobic—in many of the pictures in the book he crowds the edges till you get a feeling like you're getting jostled on the subway. When the book arrived I made a conscious effort to put away my old categorizing prejudices and look at the work with "new eyes." I found pictures that have a lot of life and movement and care for people in them, and a faith in the odd moments that flash past; they feel like glances, which was in fact his stated aim.

A few resources: The Steidl page is still up; Sid's artist page at Howard Greenberg; and there's a brief bio at The National Gallery, now archived. Perhaps his best-known picture is his portrait of Woody Guthrie.

Surprisingly, this is the first book ever published on Sid Grossman. Oren points out that a bonus in the book is several portraits of Sid by none other than our (his and my) old friend David Vestal. More on the book, which is of fine physical quality, after I read the essay, perhaps.

Mike
(Thanks to Oren Grad)

Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Shelley Stallings: "Mike, one of the many reasons I read TOP every morning while drinking my coffee is your dedication to sharing the work of other, often unknown to me, photographers. Sid Grossman is one of those previously 'unknowns' for me. Now he is not, and when Keith F. Davis's book, The Life and Work of Sid Grossman, shows up on my doorstep in a few days (from Amazon, as it seems to be sold out at Hamilton Books), I will get a chance to become much more acquainted with the life and photography of Sid Grossman. Thank you again for all you do to promote the love and knowledge of our chosen expression of art. Written from a rainforest island off the coast of Southeast Alaska, where light is elusive this time of year."

Kenneth Tanaka: "This is an excellent book, well worth getting if you're at all interested in that period of mid-century New York street/social photography. The Radical Camera, the catalog associated with the show Mike mentioned, is also worth reading for a good contextual overview of Grossman's world in those years. Grossman's rep as a 'teacher' was perhaps not terribly well anchored in actual performance practice. He charged worshippers a few bucks to listen to him aimlessly rant sometimes for hours. He had some real issues. Better with a camera, at least for a few years, than with people.

"As an aside, may I recommend the late Helen Gee's book Limelight for a rich depiction of Grossman and so many other New York photo characters of the mid-century. Gee established the first gallery / coffee house devoted solely to photography in New York, and the book is her account of those years. I recently finished my second reading of Limelight. I think many TOP readers might enjoy it, too."

Matt Haber: "Almost on topic...my mother's cousin Sonia Handelman Meyer was a member of the Photo League, and died this past September, at 102. Maybe she was the last surviving member?"

Mike replies: I was aware of Sonia (and sorry for your family's loss), but I think there was another who died even more recently. A reader sent me a link to the obituary. I just can't find it now.

Scott Kirkpatrick: "All of the folk singer portraits that turn up at your Woody Guthrie link are worth a look. It's practically the Great American Songbook, right there. The names are familiar (if you like that music), but pictures are not easy to find, and these are clear and not over-dramatized."

Steve Wilcox: "I just picked up the Sid Grossman book at a used book shop in London. Great book of an otherwise lesser known mid-century photographer. But, Sid was listed in the seminal The New York School book by Jane Livingston and Sid is listed and covered as one of the leading personalities of that movement. Saul Leiter was also covered in this book which was way ahead of it's time. It was printed in 1992. It is the one photo book I would likely keep above all others."

Mike replies: That is a pretty fabulous book if you like that sort of thing. But John Gossage made up the idea of the "New York School"—David Vestal, who is one of the photographers included, said none of them ever called themselves that or thought of themselves that way. Still, it's defensible to group artists together like that even when they didn't think of themselves as a group. The book is beautiful.

Comments

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Well, I admit I'm inclined to support anybody denounced as a communist during that panic. But the image you show (book back cover, it says) exemplifies pretty much everything I dislike off in that corner of photography.

[That's why I provided some links to some [online JPEGs] of his work, so you can get a sense of whether it might appeal or not. --Mike]

[Lynn]

Thanks for the heads up on this photographer, Mike. I tried to order the book (great price!) for delivery to Australia but unfortunately they only ship to US Zip Codes.

[I just checked for you, but it's full price at The Book Depository (which has free international shipping). Unfortunate. --Mike]

[Mark Sampson]

I knew of his work only from stories about the Photo League, and an occasional mention (and a portrait) in one of David Vestal's books. Thanks for bringing him to our attention- and I must say your description of his work is right on. Well done Mike!

[Hélcio J. Tagliolatto]

" ...you can get it for fifteen bucks from Hamilton Books."

'No records were found matching your query.'

I'm sorry, Mike, but I'll have to buy it outside TOP's link.

[Kenneth Tanaka]

Addendum: The link to Helen Gee's "Limelight" book leads to very expensive out-of-print printed books. Please note that "Limelight" is also available in a Kindle edition for about $11!