Willard Van Dyke

Born 5 December 1906; died 23 January 1986. In 1929, Van Dyke became the apprentice of the photographer Edward Weston (1886-1958) in San Francisco, California. Van Dyke worked as an independent social documentary photographer from 1930 in San Francisco and Oakland, where he established his own studio. He became a filmmaker in 1935. Van Dyke was a co-founder of the Group f/64, a group of photographers dedicated to "straight", unmanipulated photography, which began in his Oakland studio in 1932. From 1940 to 1945, Van Dyke served as the Technical Director, Film Section, Office of War Information in Washington (D.C.). From 1945 to 1981, Van Dyke worked as a filmmaker in New York City, New York. He established Van Dyke Productions Inc., in 1958. Van Dyke was the director of the Film Department at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York, from 1965 to 1972. Van Dyke settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1981 and lived there until his death in 1986. (ULAN 2006)