Minor White, one of the founders of SFAI’s Photography Department was also the first editor of Aperture magazine which started at the School in 1952. The early photo essays in Aperture included class projects as well as individual work by students like Benjamen Chinn and Charles Wong, plus faculty. In 1956 Minor wrote of his “Unique Experience in Teaching Photography” at SFAI for Aperture where he described the School’s program as being a “fabulous experiment” because of the nature of San Francisco: “cosmopolitan, dramatic, western, and full of verve,” BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY the “quality of the students. Minor thought it essentially a program “in photography at the graduate level” where he learned along with the students, how “to see with the eyes of a poet.”
With permission, SFAA is re-posting the emails Jeff Gunderson Librarian/Archivist Anne Bremer Memorial Library has been sending out since March 2020. Please enjoy this magnificent archive.