Milton Rogovin: The Making of a Social Documentary Photographer

Travelling is a pleasurable and effective way to see the world; looking through the eyes of a photographer can also be compelling.  On Monday, February 13 Professor Melanie Herzog, Professor of Art History at Edgewood College, will speak about the photographer Milton Rogovin, in a talk that shares its title with her book Milton Rogovin: The Making of a Social Documentary Photographer.

Milton Rogovin dedicated his life’s work - as an optometrist, a political activist, and a photographer - to enabling people to see more clearly. Now acclaimed for his photographs of workers and of people out of work, he was radicalized by the widespread deprivations he witnessed during the Depression.  After military service during World War II he returned to Buffalo, NY to practice as an optometrist.  There he dedicated himself to working for social and economic justice. He and his wife Ann engaged in union organizing and voter registration in Buffalo’s African-American community.  In 1957 he was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and after refusing to testify was dubbed “Buffalo’s Number One Communist.” Much of his optometry clientele vanished, and with his increased free time he turned to photography as a way to speak about social inequities. Milton Rogovin's nearly half-century of photographic practice renders visible the work and lives of those whose lives most often remain unseen. His photographs demonstrate an abiding respect for the dignity and humanity of his subjects. 

Melanie Herzog is Professor of Art History and Chair of the Art Department at Edgewood College, where she teaches a variety of art history courses. She is the author of Milton Rogovin: The Making of a Social Documentary Photographer, published by the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona in 2006, and Elizabeth Catlett: An American Artist in Mexico, published by the University of Washington Press in 2000, and additional articles and essays about photographer Tom Jones, mixed-media installation artist Flo Oy Wong, local ceramic artist, the late Bacia Edelman, Native American basketmakers, and women metalsmiths.