Augustus Sherman @ Steven Kasher Gallery

Augustus Sherman: Aliens or Americans?
November 3rd — December 23rd, 2016

Opening Reception: Thursday, November 3rd, 2016, 6–8 PM

Augustus Sherman was hired by the Bureau of Immigration as a clerk on Ellis Island in 1892. By his death in 1925, he was Chief Clerk of Ellis Island, in charge of the Immigration Bureau’s extensive correspondence. His high ranking position gave him special access to Ellis Island detainees and afforded him opportunity to take his photographs. He persuaded detainees to pose for his camera, encouraging them to wear their finest clothes or national dress. The Sherman archive at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum holds over 250 of his portraits of immigrants. They are not the “huddled masses yearning to be free” as described by Emma Goldman. They are not portrayals of anonymous travelers weary from journey as photographed by Lewis Hine. Sherman is producing a catalog of diversity. Each newcomer is described in full, face forward, in their most exceptional outfits, captioned by place of origin, and often name and occupation. Sherman takes pains to individuate each subject with a unique setting, pose and framing. In these ways Sherman was a companion to August Sander whose portrait project People of the Twentieth Century is a touchstone of photography.

Steven Kasher Gallery
15 W. 26th St., New York, NY 10001

Originally published at F-Stop Magazine.