Paul Strand (1890-1976) was one of the most important figures in American twentieth-century photography. His work is characterized by great richness of surface detail. Strand photographed a variety of subject matter, including landscapes, portraits, architecture, and abstraction. In the 1950s and 1960s, he traveled throughout France, Italy, Egypt, and Ghana, producing a series of photography books.

Paul Strand was born on October 16, 1890 in New York City. He was the only child born to parents of Bohemian-Jewish descent. Strand developed an early interest in photography and enrolled in the Ethical Culture School in 1907. He attended the class taught by Lewis W. Hine, a pioneer in the field of photojournalism. Hine took Strand and other students to visit the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession, better known as "291" after its address at 291 Fifth Avenue in New York. There he met Alfred Stieglitz, the leader of the Photo-Secession Group. On display were...