Editors' Note: The Jewish Museum and the Radical Camera

The Photo League, a pioneering group of Jewish photographers who conquered the streets of Manhattan in the 1930s, were desperate "in the[ir] desire to convey messages of sociological import" (Beaumont Newhall), and The Jewish Museum's exhibition of their documentary work reveals just that. Recently, two of our editors viewed the exhibition. The exhibit is, among many other things, a study of the way in which the camera was viewed more as a method of social criticism than as a method of aesthetic creation. We found the work of these photographers to be an exhilirating reminder of the oft-untapped social import that art can have. The exhibit runs through March 25th, but much of the work can be viewed by clicking the image above.