Thought high school art classes were anything but controversial? Aaron Siskind's photography blasts through that mold. A game-changer in American abstract expressionism, Siskind was a lensman who paralleled Jackson Pollock's splashy paintings with gritty and surreal images. Born in New York City in 1903, this curious soul originally brushed shoulders with academia as an English teacher before flipping the script. In the 1930s, Siskind took to the streets with his camera, capturing urban surrealism like never before. A wealthy liberal elite might cringe at the raw, unrefined subject matter he adored, but Siskind saw beauty in decay and order in chaos. By the time he rolled into the 1940s, he'd aligned himself with the trailblazing group of photographers known as Abstract Expressionists. This heavyweight collective was emblematic of American cultural freedom in post-war society, hugging close the notion of free expression that steers uncomfortably close to the margins for some.
Let's talk about motivations. Why did Siskind hang out in the abstract lane? He wanted more than to just shoot what meets the eye. His camera slides past the mundane to reveal something deeper. He photographed peeling posters and rusty metal, tending to shake viewers by presenting seemingly 'ugly' compositions as masterpieces. Siskind himself might chuckle if someone accused him of conservative leanings simply because he dared to step away from the politically-tainted norms of the art world.
Who were Siskind’s peers? Robert Frank and Minor White, though talented in their own right, could hardly keep pace with the philosophical rigor Siskind demanded. Siskind's unending quest to carve meaning from abstraction made him less popular among those who valued saccharine landscapes or neat portraits over potentially uncomfortable truths.
In 1951, Siskind took his game northward to teach photography at the Institute of Design in Chicago. Recognizing his impact, the still-burgeoning institute threw its full support behind him, providing a springboard for disruption. His students might have scratched their heads at his abstract focus, but the fact is, Siskind pressed people to confront ideas in bold—and sometimes jarring—forms.
Importantly, Siskind resisted the liberal tendency to prescribe a ‘correct’ interpretation of art. He used photography to emphasize personal perception over systemic narratives. This doesn’t manifest in an overt political gesture but rather in a desire for unfettered storytelling, an idea seemingly absent in today's art concentrated on 'one-size-fits-all' messages.
Siskind's work also speaks to the spirit of American innovation and individuality, even if his work might occasionally be described as oppositional to mainstream aesthetics. Don't mistake this opposition for a lack of patriotism; on the contrary, Siskind embraced the diverse narratives within American life. He found stories in burnt walls and fractured signs, acknowledging that there’s more than one way to interpret freedom.
Contrary to popular stereotypes of conservatives ‘sticking to tradition’, Siskind shows that pushing visual boundaries can reflect a true American conservative spirit. With a commitment to free expression, he avoided restrictions on how images could—should—be consumed. Siskind didn’t shy away from the less-than-perfect or the forgotten; he pushed those to the foreground, a bold act that resonated with audiences worldwide.
Here's the reality: Siskind's contributions to art are immortal. His photographs—the shattered and the abstract—contrast starkly with societies so often focused on perfection. Yet, it's in the imperfections where real significance lies, for those willing to see it. By the time he passed in 1991, Siskind had spent over six decades challenging both his peers and the public to see greatness in the disregarded.
Siskind’s body of work serves as a reminder that art doesn’t have to fit neatly in a frame—or political binary, for that matter. As Siskind's lens panned methodically across the broken landscapes of America, he crafted a visual narrative that speaks to the resilience and complexity of the nation's history. His legacy lives on in every cracked wall and faded billboard immortalized by his shutter. All you need to see it is an open eye and a willingness to forsake mainstream approval.