History of the PPA
In January 1916 the formation of the Pictorial Photographers of America took place. Clarence White,
Karl Struss, and Edward Dickson, were accomplices in forming a national organization. The story of its
early years and development under the guiding influence of Clarence White follows.
In 1906, a 35 year-old bookkeeper who lived in Newark, Ohio and whose hobby was photography,
moved to New York City. He wanted to be a part of the photo-secessionist movement and become
involved with the more prominent photographers such as Stieglitz who had begun the Photo-Secession
group in 1902, and also felt that New York offered a broader cultural environment in which to develop
his aesthetic photographic philosophy. That man was Clarence H. White. He located his family in
Morningside Heights, a neighborhood that was becoming a cultural resource with the presence of
Columbia University, Barnard College, City College, the Union Theological Seminary, and the soon to be
completed Juilliard School of Music. He taught art photography at Columbia University from 1907–25.
(Margaret Bourke-White was one of his students.) In 1907 he located his studio at 5 West 31st Street in
the heart of the photographers’ district. In 1908 he began a teaching assignment at the Brooklyn
Institute of Arts and Science.
In 1910 he bought property on Georgetown Island, Maine and opened a summer school named the
Seguinland School of Photography. The school was subsequently moved to East Canaan, Connecticut
in 1916 and within another year it was relocated to Canaan.
In 1914 he opened the school in Manhattan and called it The Clarence H. White School of Photography.
It was initially located at 230 East 11th Street, but was moved to a larger facility in 1917 to the
Washington Irving House located at 12 East 17th Street.
The school, which was open from 1914 to 1942, was the only school in the United States solely devoted
to instruction in art photography. White was a devoted, sincere teacher who instilled the artistic sense of
photography in his students. He felt that design was a strong element of photography and always had
another instructor on hand to teach principles of design. Among noteworthy alumni of the school are Ira
Martin, Margaret Watkins, Wynn Richards, Anton Bruehl, and Dorothea Lange.
During White’s life, “pictorial photography” meant “art photography” or “artistic photography.” White felt
that pictorial photography was photography with “construction and expression.”
In January 1916, along with colleagues Karl Struss and Edward Dickinson, White founded the Pictorial
Photographers of America. It was to be a national organization promoting “pictorial photography,” i.e.,
use of artistic expression to change the commercial, mechanized aspect of photography. Many versions
of its founding exist. Some say that the summer of 1916 is the correct date. D. J. Ruzicka, a member of
the first executive committee, claimed it was discussed in his home. The idea of this organization and its
purpose was discussed on many occasions. It held its first regular monthly meeting in February 1917.
Meetings were held in the Studio Building of the National Arts Club at 119 East 19th Street. The PPA
was introduced to the public in the 1917-1918 traveling exhibition.
In October 1916, PPA’s first exhibition was sponsored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts at the
National Arts Club. The AIGA served as a model for PPA which wanted to change public taste in
advancing the art of photography. Both organizations held regular meetings and exhibitions at the
National Arts Club.
Although PPA refrained from the exclusivity of the Photo-Secession, it did not enroll the nation’s local
camera clubs. It saw itself as the rightful heir of the Photo-Secession, but with a difference—it did not
adopt some of the political aspects of Stieglitz but used pictorial photography as media for art education.
The PPA’s first objective was to have two exhibits which were circulated among sixteen art museums,
libraries, and art associations throughout the east and midwest.
In 1917 the PPA released its first annual report which replaced Photographic Art as the White group
report. In a period of five years Clarence White and his associates had developed an institutional
identity.
White was president of PPA from 1917 to 1921. He stepped down from the presidency because he
believed that the organization would benefit by a change. During his lifetime the annual meeting of PPA
was held with the White School summer session in Connecticut.
In the early 1920s, White’s organization reached maturity. His school moved to still larger facilities at 460
West 144th Street, and the Art Center—which opened in October, 1921 at 65-67 East 56th Street—
became home of the PPA. Both these organizations offered new photographers technical training, art
education, and career opportunities. PPA’s members were active in contributing fifty of the eighty-three
exhibitors in the first exhibition at the Art Center.
As the White School developed so did the Arts Center. The center became the home of several art
organizations including the PPA. The center advanced the industrial, craft, and graphic arts movement
in New York. The three most active member organizations were the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic
Arts), the ADC (Art Directors Club), and the PPA.
White was president of the center until 1922 during which the PPA was very active. It held monthly one-
person exhibitions, lectures, and competitions. Starting in 1920 it published profuse annuals with
essays, and high quality prints.
The PPA discontinued its traveling exhibitions replacing them in 1923 with an ambitious biennial
international salon.
In July 1925, Clarence White died in Mexico City of a heart attack. The 1926 PPA annual was dedicated
to his memory.
Jane White, Clarence’s wife, then became head of the school. She enthusiastically assumed the role as
director of the school although she was not a teacher or a photographer. She would not sacrifice the
standards set by Clarence for the sake of saving money. She considered offering new courses which
were eventually given; one in advertising photography.
After White’s death the Art Center remained open and PPA prospered. In addition to its monthly
lectures, exhibitions, and competitions, it sponsored its third international salon in 1929 and produced a
fifth annual. The high quality of the annual attributed to the rejoining of PPA by Margaret Bourke-White,
Nicholas Haz, Lewis Hine, and Karl Struss, who had left the PPA ten years earlier.
The Art Center fell victim to the Depression in 1933 and closed. The PPA waned and became more self-
absorbed and indistinguishable from the nation’s local camera clubs. In 1937, Clarence, Jr., took over
as director of the school, as his mother wished, when she retired. (She became director emeritus of the
school.) In 1940, Clarence moved the school to a large stately townhouse at 32 West 74th Street. An
ambitious program of lectures took place. Lecturers included Edward Steichen, Gjon Mili, and Beaumont
Newhall. The move proved to be costly, and with the start of World War II, the school went bankrupt and
closed in 1942.
From 1937 to 1939, Thomas O. Sheckell served as the PPA’s president. He was more conservative than
his predecessor, Ira Martin, but was still interested in modern trends in photography. After 1940 the PPA
assumed the role of other camera clubs with no particular interest in New York art or commercial
photographers.
The influence of Clarence H. White was extended through his friends, students, and exhibitions held by
the Pictorial Photographers of America. There are many photographers influenced by his photographic
philosophy who have not been brought to the forefront. White had a strong impact in inspiring them all.
Stella Simon, a White alumnus and prominent photographer, said, “Anyone who came under his
influence never got over it.”
Ref.: Pictorialism into Modernism, The Clarence H. White School of Photography. New York: Rizzoli
International Publications, 1996.
Karl Struss, and Edward Dickson, were accomplices in forming a national organization. The story of its
early years and development under the guiding influence of Clarence White follows.
In 1906, a 35 year-old bookkeeper who lived in Newark, Ohio and whose hobby was photography,
moved to New York City. He wanted to be a part of the photo-secessionist movement and become
involved with the more prominent photographers such as Stieglitz who had begun the Photo-Secession
group in 1902, and also felt that New York offered a broader cultural environment in which to develop
his aesthetic photographic philosophy. That man was Clarence H. White. He located his family in
Morningside Heights, a neighborhood that was becoming a cultural resource with the presence of
Columbia University, Barnard College, City College, the Union Theological Seminary, and the soon to be
completed Juilliard School of Music. He taught art photography at Columbia University from 1907–25.
(Margaret Bourke-White was one of his students.) In 1907 he located his studio at 5 West 31st Street in
the heart of the photographers’ district. In 1908 he began a teaching assignment at the Brooklyn
Institute of Arts and Science.
In 1910 he bought property on Georgetown Island, Maine and opened a summer school named the
Seguinland School of Photography. The school was subsequently moved to East Canaan, Connecticut
in 1916 and within another year it was relocated to Canaan.
In 1914 he opened the school in Manhattan and called it The Clarence H. White School of Photography.
It was initially located at 230 East 11th Street, but was moved to a larger facility in 1917 to the
Washington Irving House located at 12 East 17th Street.
The school, which was open from 1914 to 1942, was the only school in the United States solely devoted
to instruction in art photography. White was a devoted, sincere teacher who instilled the artistic sense of
photography in his students. He felt that design was a strong element of photography and always had
another instructor on hand to teach principles of design. Among noteworthy alumni of the school are Ira
Martin, Margaret Watkins, Wynn Richards, Anton Bruehl, and Dorothea Lange.
During White’s life, “pictorial photography” meant “art photography” or “artistic photography.” White felt
that pictorial photography was photography with “construction and expression.”
In January 1916, along with colleagues Karl Struss and Edward Dickinson, White founded the Pictorial
Photographers of America. It was to be a national organization promoting “pictorial photography,” i.e.,
use of artistic expression to change the commercial, mechanized aspect of photography. Many versions
of its founding exist. Some say that the summer of 1916 is the correct date. D. J. Ruzicka, a member of
the first executive committee, claimed it was discussed in his home. The idea of this organization and its
purpose was discussed on many occasions. It held its first regular monthly meeting in February 1917.
Meetings were held in the Studio Building of the National Arts Club at 119 East 19th Street. The PPA
was introduced to the public in the 1917-1918 traveling exhibition.
In October 1916, PPA’s first exhibition was sponsored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts at the
National Arts Club. The AIGA served as a model for PPA which wanted to change public taste in
advancing the art of photography. Both organizations held regular meetings and exhibitions at the
National Arts Club.
Although PPA refrained from the exclusivity of the Photo-Secession, it did not enroll the nation’s local
camera clubs. It saw itself as the rightful heir of the Photo-Secession, but with a difference—it did not
adopt some of the political aspects of Stieglitz but used pictorial photography as media for art education.
The PPA’s first objective was to have two exhibits which were circulated among sixteen art museums,
libraries, and art associations throughout the east and midwest.
In 1917 the PPA released its first annual report which replaced Photographic Art as the White group
report. In a period of five years Clarence White and his associates had developed an institutional
identity.
White was president of PPA from 1917 to 1921. He stepped down from the presidency because he
believed that the organization would benefit by a change. During his lifetime the annual meeting of PPA
was held with the White School summer session in Connecticut.
In the early 1920s, White’s organization reached maturity. His school moved to still larger facilities at 460
West 144th Street, and the Art Center—which opened in October, 1921 at 65-67 East 56th Street—
became home of the PPA. Both these organizations offered new photographers technical training, art
education, and career opportunities. PPA’s members were active in contributing fifty of the eighty-three
exhibitors in the first exhibition at the Art Center.
As the White School developed so did the Arts Center. The center became the home of several art
organizations including the PPA. The center advanced the industrial, craft, and graphic arts movement
in New York. The three most active member organizations were the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic
Arts), the ADC (Art Directors Club), and the PPA.
White was president of the center until 1922 during which the PPA was very active. It held monthly one-
person exhibitions, lectures, and competitions. Starting in 1920 it published profuse annuals with
essays, and high quality prints.
The PPA discontinued its traveling exhibitions replacing them in 1923 with an ambitious biennial
international salon.
In July 1925, Clarence White died in Mexico City of a heart attack. The 1926 PPA annual was dedicated
to his memory.
Jane White, Clarence’s wife, then became head of the school. She enthusiastically assumed the role as
director of the school although she was not a teacher or a photographer. She would not sacrifice the
standards set by Clarence for the sake of saving money. She considered offering new courses which
were eventually given; one in advertising photography.
After White’s death the Art Center remained open and PPA prospered. In addition to its monthly
lectures, exhibitions, and competitions, it sponsored its third international salon in 1929 and produced a
fifth annual. The high quality of the annual attributed to the rejoining of PPA by Margaret Bourke-White,
Nicholas Haz, Lewis Hine, and Karl Struss, who had left the PPA ten years earlier.
The Art Center fell victim to the Depression in 1933 and closed. The PPA waned and became more self-
absorbed and indistinguishable from the nation’s local camera clubs. In 1937, Clarence, Jr., took over
as director of the school, as his mother wished, when she retired. (She became director emeritus of the
school.) In 1940, Clarence moved the school to a large stately townhouse at 32 West 74th Street. An
ambitious program of lectures took place. Lecturers included Edward Steichen, Gjon Mili, and Beaumont
Newhall. The move proved to be costly, and with the start of World War II, the school went bankrupt and
closed in 1942.
From 1937 to 1939, Thomas O. Sheckell served as the PPA’s president. He was more conservative than
his predecessor, Ira Martin, but was still interested in modern trends in photography. After 1940 the PPA
assumed the role of other camera clubs with no particular interest in New York art or commercial
photographers.
The influence of Clarence H. White was extended through his friends, students, and exhibitions held by
the Pictorial Photographers of America. There are many photographers influenced by his photographic
philosophy who have not been brought to the forefront. White had a strong impact in inspiring them all.
Stella Simon, a White alumnus and prominent photographer, said, “Anyone who came under his
influence never got over it.”
Ref.: Pictorialism into Modernism, The Clarence H. White School of Photography. New York: Rizzoli
International Publications, 1996.
| PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA FOUNDED IN 1916 |
