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My interest in photography began in high school. What little money I had was spent at the Silhouette Camera Shop located at the corner of Grand River Avenue and Indiana. The shop was owned by Fred Eggert who patiently answered all my questions and eventually invited me to become a member of the Silhouette Camera Club which held its meetings in the rooms over the shop. Like most clubs the Silhouette Camera Club was organized around a monthly print competition. The membership was divided into three groups (beginners, advanced and salon) based on their degree of competence. Prints were judged on technical excellence, composition and on how well they met the monthly assignment. Points were then awarded based on how well the print met these criteria. Each print was subjected to analysis by the evening's critic, usually a member of the salon group. The best prints were submitted to yearly salons held in cities around the world; acceptances were added up and the results published in the American Annual of Photography. These salons offered virtually the only place where the serious photographer could exhibit. For a few years in the early twentieth century, the Detroit Institute of Arts allowed the Detroit Salon to be hung in one of their galleries; but in the 1950s the director of the museum refused to continue this practice, citing the poor work and stating that it was not up to DIA standards. The organization of the clubs, as well as subject matter, methods of printing and presentation, followed the traditions established by the pictorial movement of the late nineteenth century. By the early years of the twentieth century that tradition had begun to weaken. It was replaced by what was referred to as the New Photography, which was influenced by photojournalism and the Bauhaus, an art school established in Weimar, Germany, in 1919. The development of the small hand camera had a tremendous influence on both these movements.
When The Family of Man opened on January 26, 1955, it began its sensational journey in becoming the most popular exhibition in the history of photography. The photographs in the show were a clear indication of what was taking place in the photographic world. In addition, in 1952 Minor White published his first issue of the very influential journal Aperture, and on May 13, 1954, Helen Gee opened the Limelight Gallery, a combination coffee house and photo gallery in New York City. During its seven year existence, many of the world's great photographers were shown. While all this was happening, the DIA informed the Detroit Salon Committee it could no longer hold its annual exhibition in the museum's galleries. In exchange, the DIA began for the first time to include photographs in the Annual Exhibition for Michigan Artists where they could be judged along with all other entries. I first became aware of the potential of the New Photography on seeing an exhibition of the work of Cartier-Bresson at the Museum of Modern Art in 1947. I realized its superiority compared with what I had become accustomed to in the camera club. I enthusiastically attempted to change the direction of its members, but made little headway. They did, however, allow me to add a fourth membership group to the traditional three. There would be no assignment, no points given and no judging. Instead, there would be a general discussion of each print. I did attract a few members to "Group Four." One of them, Floyd Radike, worked with me to write a manifesto which reflected our views. It was published in the club paper Exposure in early 1958; the first prints were submitted to Group Four on May 13, 1958.
The grand opening of Group Four Gallery took place on May 24, 1964. The first exhibition featured the work of Robert Boram, an automotive photographer for the Ford Motor Company. Boram was followed by Joe Clark, Andee Seeger and Robert Wilson, among others. I had contacted Harry Callahan and Ed Bailey but was unable to complete arrangements. Over the next few years we added Gerald Bray, Joe Dworkin, Russ Pfeiffer and Frank Dropsho to the group. While we enjoyed large enthusiastic groups at each opening, traffic fell to a trickle between openings and the number of photographs sold was embarrassingly few. It soon became clear that the gallery was not going to be a success and not worth the time, effort and money to continue. In 1968, after four years, we decided to close. Even though
the Group Four Gallery was not a successful financial venture, I believe
it did exert some influence on the local photographic community by acquainting
it with the potential of photography as a viable art medium. It was
the first purely photographic gallery in the Detroit area. In her book
Limelight, published in 1997, Helen Gee claims to have had the first
such gallery in the United States based on her belief that Alfred Stieglitz's
291 Gallery was more involved with painting than photography. Based
on this logic, I believe I can claim that the Group Four Gallery was
actually the first photographic gallery in the country and perhaps the
world. Gee's gallery was primarily a coffee house. This article first appeared in The Photogram: Newsletter of the Michigan Photographic Historical Society vol. 32, no. 2 (September-October 2004): 5-9 |
