Wayne F. Miller
San Francisco "Flying Police" Squad, 1950s/2008

Gelatin silver print, 12.5 x 9.875 inches
Signed, in pencil, verso
Unframed
Courtesy of Wayne F. Miller Photography and Stephen Daiter Gallery
Estimated value: $2,000

In the 1950s, Wayne F. Miller spent some time in the company of this elite police unit that responded to emergencies throughout San Francisco as they saw fit. This image gives a sense of Raymond Chandler and conveys a sense of the look of film noir.

About the Artist:
Wayne F. Miller

Wayne Miller (1918–2013) was born in Chicago. At the University of Illinois he decided to pursue photography as a career. From 1940 to 1942 he studied photography at the Art Center School of Los Angeles until the US entry into the Second World War. He enlisted in the US Navy and was assigned to Edward Steichen's Naval Aviation Unit, covering the war mainly in the Pacific Theater.

Miller tried to record the war through the eyes of the fighting man. He also photographed the misery and resilience of the Japanese in Hiroshima almost immediately after the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. After the war, Miller was awarded two consecutive Guggenheim Fellowships (1946–48) in support of his body of work titled "The Way of Life of the Northern Negro," which was later published as Chicago's South Side, 1946–1948 (University of California Press, 2000). Also in 1947–48 Miller briefly taught at Chicago's Institute of Design before moving to California, where he worked for Life magazine before being called to New York by Edward Steichen.

Through 1955 Wayne Miller functioned as co-curator of the groundbreaking Family of Man exhibition, the world’s first traveling “super-show.” After the show opened, Miller and his family returned to California, where he documented them in his book The World Is Young (Simon & Schuster, 1958). He also became a member of Magnum Photos in 1958, serving as its president from 1962 to 1966. Miller would then freelance for the great magazines, completing hundreds of assignments, all the while from a humanist perspective.

During the 1970s Miller became interested in forestry, conservation in land management, and environmental education and spent the rest of his life largely devoted to these issues. Wayne F. Miller: Photographs 1942–1958 was published in 2008 by PowerHouse Books. Wayne Miller is widely represented in both private and public collections.

Website: stephendaitergallery.com | stephendaitergallery.com
Instagram: @stephendaitergallery | @stephendaitergallery