The Rich Have Their Own Photographers

According to photographer Milton Rogovin of Buffalo, NY, “The rich have their own photographers. I photograph the forgotten ones,” words that recall the work of both Walker Evans (Let Us Now Praise Famous Men) and Robert Frank (The Americans). In this film by Ezra Bookstein, Rogovin describes his portraiture as “social documentary photography.” As he notes, “There's art in my work, but there's also a message. It's not just art for art's sake. It's art for people's sake.” Born in New York City in 1909, Rogovin attended Columbia University and trained to become an optometrist like his older brother. Although his middle-class family made it through the Depression intact, the experience inspired Rogovin to join the radical movement. Rogovin married, served in the armed forces, started his own business, and became an active union member; but during the McCarthy era, his leftist leanings led to testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and his business and social relationships suffered. When a friend asked him to help out with a photography project, Rogovin found his true calling, training his lens on the disenfranchised, including the miners of Appalachia, a subject that brought him his greatest fame. Along the way, Rogovin also collaborated with writers he admired, such as W.E.B. DuBois and Pablo Neruda. For the most part, the here-97-year-old Rogovin tells his own story, but Bookstein also intersperses commentary from Rogovin's wife, children, art experts, and admirer Ed Asner. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)