A Look at Mechanical Principles Photographer/filmmaker Ralph Steiner made poetry out of a simple short film on machine components in the 1930s

摘要

Ralph Steiner (1899-1986) had a vision. It was unlike other photographers and filmmakers of his time. Browsing through some of his work, it's easy to see that the man had an eye for patterns, abstract compositions, odd shapes and the engineering behind ordinary household items. A documentary filmmaker, photographer and pioneer of the avant-garde film movement in the 1930s, Steiner originally studied chemistry at Dartmouth, but changed his career path by entering the Clarence H. White School of Modern Photography in 1921. He first worked as a freelance photographer in advertising and for publications like the Ladies Home Journal.