Minor Martin White (July 9th, 1908 – June 24th, 1976), he stood out not only as a photographer, but also as a teacher and editor of the “Aperture” magazine, which as Maria Millán highlights in the article “La fotografia como espejo: Minor White” is still the bible of photography.
Photography as a philosophy of life that through metaphor expresses the moods of the author, probably not as well known as some of his teachers, Edward Weston or Ansel Adams himself, who offered him work at the California School of Fine Arts (CSFA) where he taught.
It was Alfred Stieglietz who reconciled it with photography after the war: “Have you ever been in love?”, White nods and his friend replies: “Then you can be a photographer”. It was 1946 and Minor doubted whether he could become a good photographer. Stieglitz, aged 82, died shortly afterwards.
Stieglitz, inspired by Kandinsky’s belief that color, form and line reflect the vibrations of the soul, as well as by the symbolist theories of the image as a metaphor, he had elaborated a theory of equivalences […] follower of Stieglitz, Minor’s photographs go beyond the image they reflect; his rocks, his scenes of water or ice, are symbolic images, metaphors of a feeling. They are metaphorical both for their author and for those who observe them”
“One must photograph things not only for what they are, but also for what they are“. A follower of the Zen philosophy, his work was markedly spiritual and was a reflection of his vision of photography.
You can find some interesting reflections from Leire Etxazarra in the “Minor White y la mirada del yo” post from QuitarFotos, and few quotes from White HERE at 3Peusdegat.
Photographies
