Friday Photo: Paul Strand's Place to Meet

The Philadelphia Museum of Art reveals the fruits of its 2010 mega-acquisition of Paul Strand photographs in a stunning retrospective—the first in nearly fifty years—that spans from the breakthrough moment when Strand neared the brink of abstraction (his Porch Shadows of 1916 alone are worth the trip) to his broader vision of the place of photography in the modern world. On view through January 4, Paul Strand: Master of Modern Photography highlights his 1953 project in the northern Italian village of Luzzara, where he set out to create a major work about a single community and captured this group of gentlemen meeting amidst spindly chairs and dynamic signage that includes a spirited rendering of geographically appropriate footwear.