Harvard Art Museums Exhibit Challenges Postwar American Myth
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Harvard Art Museums is showcasing 'The Way We Never Were: The American Professional Photographers Collection,' which explores the romanticized vision of postwar America. This exhibition includes around 70 photographs sourced from the American Professional Photographers Collection, a compilation of more than 20,000 negatives and prints curated in the 1970s by sociologist Barbara P. Norfleet. The works, captured by photographers such as Joseph Janney Steinmetz and Jack Gould, illustrate staged community gatherings, masking issues like racial segregation and political oppression. Curators Audrey Sands and Madison Brown seek to promote a critical analysis of how these images reinforced a white, middle-class ideal. The exhibition is open until May 9, 2027.
Key facts
- Exhibition titled 'The Way We Never Were: The American Professional Photographers Collection' at Harvard Art Museums.
- On view at the University Research Gallery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, until May 9, 2027.
- Draws from the American Professional Photographers Collection, an archive of over 20,000 negatives and prints.
- Archive collected in the 1970s by Harvard sociologist and curator Barbara P. Norfleet.
- Approximately 70 photographs on display.
- Photographers include Joseph Janney Steinmetz, Jack Gould, Gene Claseman, Lucian and Mary Brown, and Clement McLarty.
- Curators are Audrey Sands and Madison Brown.
- Images date from between the Korean War and the rise of the Civil Rights Movement.
- Photographs were commissioned by private clients, corporations, and government agencies.
- Exhibition critiques the idealized portrayal of postwar American life.
Entities
Artists
- Joseph Janney Steinmetz
- Jack Gould
- Gene Claseman
- Lucian Brown
- Mary Brown
- Clement McLarty
- Barbara P. Norfleet
Institutions
- Harvard Art Museums
- Harvard University
- American Professional Photographers Collection
Locations
- Cambridge
- Massachusetts
- United States
- Longboat Key
- Florida
- Sarasota
- South Dakota
- Saint Louis
- Missouri
- Minnesota
- Boston
- Bayshore Gardens