Magnifying Nature to Reveal Its Art
Karl Blossfeldt was a German photographer who, like many others, found inspiration in nature. He believed the plant “never lapses into mere arid functionalism; it fashions and shapes, according to logic and suitability, and with its primeval force, compels everything to attain the highest artistic form.” Born in 1863, Blossfeldt spent a lot of time...
The Real Lolita
Here at Broad Street we love reading about the true-life stories that have inspired some of our favorite fiction. That’s why we recommend a recent piece over at Hazlitt investigating the 1948 abduction of Sally Horner, a New Jersey fifth-grader whose kidnapping at the hands of Frank La Salle, along with the trip Horner made...
Marion Post Wolcott Captures Humanity During the Great Depression
by Jamal Stone Broad Street looks back at the amazing catalogue of photography left behind by Marion Post Wolcott, who passed away twenty-four years ago this week. Wolcott’s legacy is tethered to the work of the Farm Security Administration, a Rooseveltian program meant to collectivize rural farmers in order to help them survive the Great Depression....
Illusion and Reality in Art
by Carla Dominguez There are two main schools of thought about illusions in creative work—schools that often are in opposition. First, there is a general belief that illusion is essential to art. At the same time, it is also generally accepted that creative works, whether it be writing, visual or performance, are an essential part of truth. It’s...
Ander Monson’s “I Have Been Thinking About Snow”
With the arrival of colder weather, we here at Broad Street have been thinking about winter, and by extension, Ander Monson’s delicate lyric essay “I Have Been Thinking About Snow,” from his collection Neck Deep and Other Predicaments, the 2007 winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize. The form of Monson’s essay is defined by a preponderance of ellipsis, criss-crossing...
