The Family of Man

The Family of Man was an ambitious photography exhibition curated by Edward Steichen, the director of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) Department of Photography. It was first shown in 1955 from January 24 to May 8 at the New York MOMA. Steichens international collection of images, included his focused tour of 11 European countries including France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The exhibit was turned into a book of the same name, containing all 503 images from the exhibition and an introduction by Carl Sandburg, the 1951 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and Steichens brother-in-law. Sandburg states in the prologue of the exhibition: “The first cry of a baby in Chicago, or Zamboango, in Amsterdam or Rangoon, has the same pitch and key, each saying, “I am! I have come through! I belong! I am a member of the Family. Many the babies and grownup here from photographs made in sixty-eight nations round our planet Earth. You travel and see what the camera saw. The wonder of human mind, heart wit and instinct is here. You might catch yourself saying, ‘I’m not a stranger here.’” The book was reproduced in a variety of formats (most popularly a pocket-sized volume) in the 1950s, and reprinted in large format for its 40th anniversary. The book version of the exhibit has sold more than four million copies.