The Family of Man

When we think about the word family, we automatically think of our immediate family. Some may occasionally think about extended family, like an aunt, uncle, or cousins. The reality is that the concept of family means so much more. We are all family whether we like it or not. The man sitting across from you and the woman sitting next to you is apart of your family as well. We are all connected and affect each other one way or another. The world is very big but very small at the same time. Until, January of 1955 no one really tried to depict this in such a way as The Family of Man.

The Family of Man was an exhibition shown at the museum of modern art in 1955. This vision came together under the supervision of Edward Steichen and several photographers. The professed aim of the exhibition was to mark the "essential oneness of mankind throughout the world." The exhibit was created during WWII in order to show people that we are all connected in some way. It brings emphasis on the daily relationships of man to his family and community. The human relationship is being torn apart and in order to bring us together they wanted to show how we are connected in every way. If a picture is worth a thousand words; then a little over five hundred can speak volumes. The subject matter ranges from several different topics including love, children, family life, to nuclear weapons and world hunger. This exhibit was later made into a book and the subject matter is still relevant today. While studying the images it is very difficult at times to tell when some of the pictures were taken. If one hadn't known that the exhibit was shown in 1955, they might think the pictures were fairly recent.

A great example of this is a picture taken in Indonesia of a bus with a sign that says, "All people are created equal." As I look at this photo, I automatically think of the civil rights movement. There were buses that looked just like that all over America during the mid and late 1960's. To think that and entire group of people could be going through the same struggle halfway across the world ten prior to my ancestors is amazing. This book is a constant reminder that we are all connected and if we are aware of someone else's struggle, we can bring light to our own. There was another quote in the book by William Blake that describes just that. "For Mercy had a human heart, Pity a human face." This is a statement that finds