Wayne Miller – Profile

Wayne Miller (1918-), American documentary photographer. He was a member of Edward Steichen's World War II U.S. Navy Combat Photo Unit during the Second World War. Towards the end of the war he was awarded a grant from the Guggenheim Foundation to photograph "The Way of Life of the Northern Negro" – this was at a time when there had been large demographic changes as African Americans moved from the South to the North both during the Depression and afterwards to the factories involved in the war effort. His relationship with Steichen continued as he was an associate curator for the famous “The Family of Man” exhibit New York's Museum of Modern Art. The “Family of Man” remains one of the most significant photographic exhibitions as it portrayed the diversity of humanity at a time when the world was trying to come together after divisive turmoil.   He later became a contract photographer for LIFE magazine, and a member and former president of Magnum Photos. Interesting he coauthored Baby's First Year with Dr. Spock, and authored The World is Young that also displayed a positive view of humanity.

Below, watch photography professor Ken Light discuss a few images from Wayne Miller's book Chicago's South Side, 1946 - 1948