The Morton Broffman collection appearing at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta has generated a great deal of interest and commentary. We provide a number of articles and broadcast information as further background on Morton Broffman's legacy in photojournalism.
The face of solidarity
By Catherine Fox
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: January 9, 2008
It's 1965, and the country is in the throes of a social revolution.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who is leading the charge, is nearing the finish of the Selma Voting Rights March. Hand in hand with his wife, Coretta, and backed by a phalanx of supporters, he strides purposefully toward Montgomery.
Photographer Morton Broffman was there. He must have stood in the center of the road ahead of the crowd, maybe walking backward to take the picture hanging in the High Museum. The moment he captured immortalizes both the spirit of solidarity and the dignity, determination and force of moral authority written on King's face.
This image is among the five civil rights-era photographs, each by a different artist, installed just off the lobby of the Stent Wing. These photographers were not simply journalists doing their job. All were personally engaged in the civil rights movement. The photo that Danny Lyon took of some black youths at the 1963 March on Washington communicates the spiritual depth of their emotions, and perhaps his own. This memorable composition of upraised arms later became a poster for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Mounted in honor of King Day, the exhibit, which opened Tuesday, is also a preview for a pair of exhibits opening June 7: "Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956-1968" and "After 1968: Contemporary Artists and the Civil Rights Legacy," which will feature specially commissioned works.