Willard Van Dyke
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"The effects of the Depression were very disturbing to me, and I felt anxious to promote change. I was young and impatient, and felt that the documentary film would more effectively communicate issues to more people than would still photography." --Willard Van Dyke, quoted in his January 24, 1986 obituary in The New York Times.
He was named Laureate Artist in Residence at Harvard shortly before his death.
Biography
Eminent American documentarian who began his career as a still photographer, co-founding the renowned f.64 group (which included Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and Imogen Cunningham) in 1932 and earning acclaim for his portraits of migrant workers. Van Dyke entered film as the co-photographer of Pare Lorentz's celebrated history of the Mississippi Basin, "The River" (1937). He then set up American Documentary Films Inc. with Ralph Steiner and together they directed, photographed and produced another monumental documentary, "The City" (1939), with an outline by Lorentz and an affecting score by Aaron Copland. Van Dyke's other notable works include "Valley Town" (1940), with music by Marc Blitzstein, a series of films made for the Office of War Information during WWII (such as "Steel Town" 1943), "San Francisco" (1945)--the official film on the founding of the United Nations--and "Skyscraper" (1958), described by co-director Shirley Clarke as "a musical comedy about the building of a skyscraper." Van Dyke served as director of the Museum of Modern Art's film department from 1965 to 1973.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Cinematography (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Director (Short)
Cinematography (Short)
Life Events
1932
Co-founded f.64 group of photographers in San Francisco
1934
Served as photographer on WPA Art Project in San Francisco
1935
Worked as photographer for "Harper's Bazaar"
1936
Cameraman on Pare Lorentz's documentary "The River"
1939
Directorial debut, "The City" (with Ralph Steiner; also co-producer and co-photographer)
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"The effects of the Depression were very disturbing to me, and I felt anxious to promote change. I was young and impatient, and felt that the documentary film would more effectively communicate issues to more people than would still photography." --Willard Van Dyke, quoted in his January 24, 1986 obituary in The New York Times.
He was named Laureate Artist in Residence at Harvard shortly before his death.
