Flourishing for a decade and a half between the depths of the Great Depression and the beginning of the Cold War, the Photo League’s headquarters in Greenwich Village was a communal darkroom, a political debating forum, exhibition space and the crucible for the documentary movement in American photography.
Daniel Allentuck and Nina Rosenblum’s splendid documentary offers a wonderful sampling of black-and-white images from its members, who ran the gamut from the organization’s founder, liberal crusader Sid Grossman, to the famous crime photographer known only as Weegee.
There are wonderful interviews from the surviving members of the organization, who recall being inspired by such giants as Berenice Abbott and Margaret Bourke-White, as well as alumni participation in World War II — and the leftist politics that led to the organization’s abrupt closing in 1951 after it was labeled a communist front by the FBI.
Narrated by Campbell Scott, “Ordinary Miracles: The Photo League’s New York” provides a fascinating tour of the city’s past.